Spying on the Spy
by BewilderedFemale
Summary: Takes place after the war. Hermione lives in the muggle world working as a financial analyst and is content until she stumbles across the last person she ever expected to see.
1. Chapter 1

The first time she had seen him was when she was leaving the shoe store one afternoon; she had taken off from work early and decided to splurge on a beautiful pair of gold colored stiletto's she had seen on the display window the week prior.  
She was walking towards the parking lot, the only thing in view were the rows of cars and the book store that was across the street. She stood next to her car and fumbled with the contents of the purse, trying to feel for the familiar shape of her keys. She looked up in annoyance; she should've shopped for a bigger purse too. That was when she saw him.

Her eyes grew wide and her entire body went frigid as she saw him casually walk from the other side of the lot into the book store. It. Couldn't. Be. Him... It just couldn't, the man was declared dead for goodness sake!  
Besides, if she remembered correctly, he was a callous man who even in his mode of walking gave off the aura of purpose and menace. The man she had just seen walked as if he didn't have a care in the world, and his hair was a little shorter, yet his nose.. That nose was so incredibly peculiar, nobody but ... _him_ had that nose.  
It was lunacy she knew, yet her curiosity got the better of her and she ended up dumping the contents she had just purchased in the back of her car and swiftly made her away across the lot. She was about to enter the bookstore but she came to a halt and backed up a bit against one of the decorative columns in front of the store.

"What if it is him? What do I say? 'Hi professor, fancy meeting you here ;I thought you were dead!"

"Lame, lame, lame!" She yelled at herself. A couple of passer byers looked at her strangely so she moved over to a bench that was just outside of the building next to the back exit of the store.  
She would wait for him to come out, that was it; from where she was sitting she had a good view of both the front and back exit's so either way she'd know if it were him. She failed to realize however that apparently he was in no hurry whatsoever because an hour had gone by and there was still no trace of him. She began to feel restless and extremely silly especially that it could very well not be him. As a matter of fact; it probably wasn't him, she had probably just seen... Oh crap! He was coming! She frantically looked around her surroundings and grabbed a newspaper that was lying next to her and used that to cover her face. She could hear his footsteps slightly hesitate but then they kept going at a regular rhythm. When she could hear that they were beginning to fade, she subtly turned her head in the direction he had gone. A gasp almost escaped her when she got a clear view of him opening the door of his stylish Bentley Mulsanne. Her suspicions had been correct; the man had seen was most definitely Severus Snape.

OoOoOoOoO

Hermione found herself frequenting the strip mall often. So much in fact that she knew that her ex professor went to the bookstore most Friday afternoons and occasionally on Sunday mornings. It had become like a sick obsession for her. The truth was that seeing him again reignited the crush she had had on him during her school years. She was unsure of herself to approach him so boldly so doing what she was at present would have to suffice.  
She had already found four spots in which she could get a good view since she knew that it would be odd to find the same exactly woman sitting on the bench reading a newspaper every time he walked by. She was sitting outside of Jareth's Cafe, having a cup of their famous fair trade coffee; black, two sugars.

She wore different color sunglasses on every occasion and made sure to change her hair and clothes so that no one would ever be the wiser. He never looked towards her direction, and he was always alone... That was until the following week. was parked just three rows away from the bookstore. She had her hair up in a bun today, and her shades were pink. She had to admit that she had an 80's Go-Go girl look to her and if anyone she had known back in Hogwarts saw her, she would never hear the end of it, but it was necessary in order to continue to go on undetected.

That was when she saw her; she was incredibly beautiful. Long flowing black hair, trim physique, and a face that even took her breath away. She was laughing as she cradled her arm with his as they entered the bookstore. He in turn had been smiling towards her; he. never. smiled. ever.

For reasons she couldn't understand; she felt something inside her begin to shrivel up and crumble. She felt as if the space around her was becoming unbelievably small, too small to bear, and before she could think any further on the subject; she was fumbling around for her keys and quickly slammed them in the ignition and roared out of the lot; almost causing an accident on the way out.

The next evening that she knew he'd be at the bookstore, she did not go, nor the next. A month when by where she specifically avoided going anywhere near the bookstore. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why she had even started spying on her ex professor in the first place, to say nothing of why seeing him with a woman affected her in such a way. The man deserved to be happy she knew. Hadn't he been through so much turmoil during his time as a teacher in Hogwarts? The fact is, she probably would've faked her death too if she had been in his position for she herself had fled form the world and back to "muggle civilization."

She wanted to forget that she had ever seen him, wanted to go on about her life and just move on to something else. Yes! That was the key! She needed to find some other activity to take up her free time and that way she could forget about ever having seen him. After work one Monday, she headed down towards a dance studio not far from where she lived, there were signs posted all over the place of the Spring Session starting soon. She walked up to the receptionist: "I would like to sign up for the Spring Session please."  
The girl smiled happily and handed her a form.

"Have you ever danced before Miss?"

"If you count moving side to side during a school function as dancing then, yes I have."

She smiled again. "That's ok, that's what you're here for right? Just fill that out, and the first class is free but afterwards you have to pay the full tuition. Classes start promptly at 7:00pm."

Hermione sat down to fill out her form. She had to admit that doing something so incredibly spontaneous as this was very exciting and she began to look forward to the prospect of forgetting about her professor or having ever seen him. Who knew? Maybe she would meet someone in the class who she could in the very least become friends with. She submitted her form and the following evening came back wearing the appropriate dance attire which was pretty much standard work out clothes. She held her thick curly hair up in a bun, it showed off her beautiful pale skin, and long graceful neck; in truth she looked like a ballerina, all she needed was the tutu. She had arrived ten minutes early and was making small talk with some of the other first timers, not having noticed the last couple of students that had walked in.

There was loud hand clapping and everyone swiftly ended their conversations as the teacher walked into the center of the room. He wasn't very tall, seemed to be of a latin descent, and was very muscular; His clothes fit very, very snug.

"Ok, hi everyone! My name is Enrique, and we are going to dance!" As he said this, he began jiving his pelvis around, causing Hermione to raise an amused eyebrow.

"So you are here today because you want to learn how to dance; congratulations!" He clapped excitedly.

"Ok, so now! First everyone in the room will introduce themselves and I have asked some of my advanced students to come in and serve as helpers today, but please feel free to direct any questions or concerns to me directly, ok? So how about we go around the room." He pointed towards Hermione. "You tell us your name and a little about yourself and why you're here today."

"Hi uh.. My name is Stacy Jenkins and I work as a Financial Analyst down at Newbury Bank. I enjoy my job but I felt like I needed to do something constructive during my free time so, here I am."

"Very nice, welcome aboard Stacy, next person!" Hermione sighed a breath of relief, no matter how often she said her newly changed name, it always felt so foreign to her. She was listening attentively but all the while looking out the window of the studio when she suddenly heard the next person speak in a dark, silky voice. "My name is Alan Rickman. I came to dancing purely as an accident brought on by trying to figure someone from my past out. I'd like to learn more about her which is obviously why I'm here." All the while as he spoke he looked directly at Hermione. His onyx eyes boring into hers from across the room.

The teacher practically squirmed. "Oh my! My handsome man in black; I can totally tell you will be one of my favorites!" He winked towards him and then did a twirl before clapping his hands together. "Ok, ladies to my left, the gentlemen to my right."

Hermione was totally and completely stunned. So much that when everyone was shuffling to their places, she was still just sitting there gawking at this "Alan" fellow. She was powerless to do anything even as he came over to her and extended his hand in offer to help her up. "Miss Jenkins?" He purred.  
She blinked hard a few times and finally held out her hand to him. He took hold of her and pulled her up, the contact sent a shock down her spine, and the world began moving around her too fast. She couldn't feel the solid ground beneath her, she tried to open her mouth to say something; anything, but then everything went black.

OoOoOoOooO

What a dream. It truly would've been remarkable to meet at the Dance hall, all except for the fainting part, that would've been terribly embarrassing, why couldn't the dream have included them dancing the night away and then going back to her place? She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, she mustn't get too comfortable or she'd be liable to arrive late for work. She sat up and took in her surroundings instantly realizing she was not in the comforts of her own home, there were shelves upon shelves of books and bottles of different items. She looked down where she was laying and saw that it was two large chairs that had been pushed together.  
"Finally decided to wake?" Came that all too familiar voice, and she turned to him, standing, watching her.

She didn't even know what to say or what to do, all she could do was stare at him and wonder if this in itself was just a dream.

"Fine, don't answer" He said silkily, and was about to turn away from her as the beginnings of a sneer were forming on his face.

"I.. Where are we?"

"My lab."

"Why?"

"You fainted."

Her eyes shot open. "Oh My God, that was real?"

He lifted a questioning brow. "Losing touch with reality are we?"

She could feel that was going to become frantic, she need to get out immediately. She looked around and saw that he had been gracious enough to bring along her purse.

"I have to go, I need to go." She said as she was making to grab her purse, but before she could; he appeared in front and blocked her path. He looked her straight in the eyes and with that same authoritive voice she remembered from her school days said: "SIT. DOWN."  
She immediately did so, looking up as if waiting for him to give yet another order.

He looked her over and walked to the counter where he grabbed a mug and brought it to her. "Drink it, you will feel better." She also immediately obeyed said command, but the bitter taste was extremely overpowering.  
"Yuck! What is this?"

"Hawthorne, it will calm your nerves." He took a seat across from where she was and looked directly at her, no particular expression on his face. "So, you want to tell me why you had been following me?"

"I.. I.. "

"And then you suddenly stopped; why?"

"I honestly don't know what you're referring to." She lied badly.

"Your deceit was obvious Miss Granger. From the very first moment I saw you covering yourself up with the 'Retired Living" section of the newspaper; I knew it was you."

She couldn't look up at him, and she could feel herself blushing, there was no way she could really tell him why.

"Were you sent by someone to track me down?" He asked harshly.

Her eyes sprang up suddenly. "What? No! I had no idea that you were alive until that day!"

"I ask you again; why were you following me?"

"I... I .. Don't really know. What I do know is that. It felt good to know that you were alive." She was speaking in earnest, looking directly at him, her eyes becoming watery. He looked back at her, his expression still unreadable. After what felt like an age he finally answered: "That is the best you can come up with Miss Granger? Such a pathetic lie."

The expression on her face changed drastically for even though she still had some childish tendencies, she would not be allowed to be pushed around and spoken down to like when she was a student.  
"You know what; I don't have to explain myself to you." She said getting up again, anger now coursing through her veins. She dared to push past him in order to gain access to her purse; he took hold of her arm and sneered at her: "We are not finished."

"You may not be, but I am. In a way I'm glad I got to see you again. All those years I wondered about you, wondered what kind of man you really were because I had always thought that despite everything you were a good and decent person who deserved to be happy; that's why I followed you. Guess I was wrong. She pulled away from his grasp and headed towards what she hoped was the exit, and luckily the door gave way to the blanket of night. Now she had to figure out where she was so she could take the bus back to the dance studio to pick up her car.

She heard quick footsteps following her and was already opening the flap of her purse to remove the keychain pepper spray she carried with her.

"Miss Granger! "

She turned around, the spray already in her hands. He lifted a brow. "Traded a wand for a spray?"

She said nothing and turned back around continuing to walk towards what looked to be a bus stop. There were a couple of odd looking guys there, talking very loud and acting obnoxiously, she decided it would be better to walk towards the next stop instead. She crossed the street to avoid them, and even though there wasn't anyone around on this side of the street; Hermione still felt unsettled for she was not accustomed to walking alone so late at night.  
A black car appeared on the road beside her, she recognized it from the times she had seen the professor leaving the bookstore. He rolled down the window and yelled out to her: "GET IN THE CAR!"

She continued to walk, ignoring him.

"Damn it ! GET IN THIS BLASTED CAR NOW!"

"You can't tell me what to do anymore." She replied calmly.

"Confounded Girl!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere Professor."

"Fine! I'll just leave you then!"

She stopped. She was looking down on the floor before she looked directly at him, her face suddenly becoming completely serious. He could count on one hand the number of times he had seen such an expression on her face." Go ahead, everyone else does." She said.  
She then made a swift turn to the right and up a one way street where he couldn't go.

"Blasted Girl!" He yelled before changing the gears in his car and swerving around, going well above the speed limit to reach the end of the street where she'd ultimately end up except that she was nowhere in sight. He banged his steering whee,l cursing himself before he sped off up and down the nearby streets, but he never did find her.  
Hermione stayed had hidden behind one of the buildings, waiting many minutes before she dared to step out and walk towards the bus stop again. She got home about an hour later and immediately collapsed on her bed where the sunlight streaming down and into her eyes were what finally woke her up.  
She shook her head; opening her eyes slowly for fear that she'd wake up somewhere else again but was extremely relieved to find the familiarity of her flat. She got up and stretched, walking by her clock when she did a double take. She looked at it in alarm, and then looked at her wrist watch; she was an hour late for work already. She quickly showered and dressed in her cream suit and matching heels. She didn't have time to really tend to her hair so it was a bit of a frizzy mess when she walked in the office. The receptionist looked her over with some concern.

"You alright Stacy?"

"Yeah it's just that.. I had trouble sleeping and then when I finally did fall asleep I overdid it and woke up frantic to get here as soon as possible."

"Oh geez that's terrible; listen, I hate to break more bad news to you, but there's a guy waiting in your office. He says that one of the lenders told him to come and speak to you about his account."

She sighed loudly already knowing where this was going. "What's his name?"

"Alan Rickman."

"Right, ok." She said carelessly as she dragged her feet towards her office.

She opened the door and found him sitting on one of the chairs across from her desk. He was wearing a muggle suit; black of course. It looked very expensive, as did the shiny leather shoes he was wearing, the tie looked to be pure silk. She had to force herself to look him in the eyes and away from his body for he looked so incredibly attractive.

"Do you normally keep your clients waiting like this Miss 'Jenkins'?"

She closed the door, and threw her purse over on the small love seat she had in the corner of her office.  
"What do you want from me?" She said as she crossed her arms in front of her.  
Instead of answering her, he made a comment about the previous night. "What you did Yesterday was incredibly stupid."

Hermione clasped her hands together and landed unceremoniously on her chair. "And? You've come here to slap me with detention?"

"You could've gotten hurt silly girl!"

She folded her hands on her desk, instantly reminding him of when she was his student except that she had not the eager inclination to learn etched upon her face. She looked tired, and angry.  
"If I remember correctly Mr. 'Rickman' The whole reason that I was even in that predicament in the first place was because you took me from the dance studio all the way across town without my consent!"

"You had fainted, I was treating you!"

"You took me because you wanted to interrogate me since you have this paranoid notion in your mind that I've been sent by God knows who to spy on you! You didn't care about my well being!"

He got up from his chair and came around her desk to face her, she immediately stood up. "That's why I followed you out and then drove around for an hour trying to find you, because I don't care. That's what a person who doesn't care about someone else does right? And that's why I came here first thing in the morning, because I don't care; Is that what you want me to say?"

She sighed loudly, and then waved her hand in the air. "I don't want to do this with you Professor." She looked up at the name plate on the door. "Office of Stacy Jenkins" That's who she was now, it was the path she had chosen and maybe having met up with her ex professor served as a reminder that even though the new life she had chosen was lonely at times, it still beat the hell out of her previous one no matter how you looked at it. The fact was, what really made her stop was that he said he cared; and she knew that he did but the memory of that beautiful girl he was with that day at the book store brought everything to a halt. He probably had it made now and she was just an obstacle in his new life.

She smiled awkwardly before looking up at him.  
"Is it possible that maybe we can just forget that any of this happened?"

He had a confused look on his face, she extended her hand out to him. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you professor. I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule just to make sure I'm alright and I really did mean what I said that day about being happy to find that you are alive and well. I wish you much happiness in your new life."  
He still had a confused look on his face and for a moment she thought he was going to leave her hanging, but then he extended his hand and firmly grasped hers. She smiled and looked up at him. "Goodbye Professor."

**There will be one more Chapter...**


	2. Chapter 2

A week had passed since his encounter with the Granger girl and he still couldn't get the incident out of his head.  
He thought about it at business meetings, while at home, and especially when he went to the bookstore. It was a most aggravating situation for he wasn't accustomed to thinking of anyone but himself since his staged death.

He caught himself several times looking around at her usual hide out spots to see if she was lurking around but knew that she wouldn't be.  
The fact is that he hadn't really suspected that she had been sent to spy on him by anyone. She was terribly obvious, and lacked the skillful tact of going unnoticed as he had.  
He just couldn't understand why she'd do it; he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that she would want to follow him without there being a malicious intent behind it.

She had stopped after he had brought Sheila along with him. She was a gorgeous specimen of a woman and he would've probably made an advance towards her had she not been a business associate or so obviously after his money.

In particular he'd think about what Granger had said when she was walking away angrily from him, he had yelled out to her: "Fine! I'll leave you then!" and she had given him the most pitiable, sorrowful look he had ever seen and said: "Go ahead; everyone else does."

What bothered him was, a remark like that shouldn't come from someone like her, from him yes; but her… It just wasn't right, and the more he thought about it, the more he concluded that she really did believe said statement.

She had been heatedly arguing with him in her office, nobody did that; he was a powerful man within the muggle world, and at Hogwarts he had demanded respect. When he came to see her the following morning, he mentioned that he cared for her; how did that happen? But then she had suddenly changed her tone completely in an effort to get him to leave; he knew this because he too had done it before as well.  
God only knew what had happened to her to make her this way. To leave the magic world completely, to change her name and live her life pretending that none of it ever happened was not like the Hermione Granger he knew at all.

He knew he should leave well enough alone, knew that it was better to just walk away now, it was after all her problem; but he couldn't, and what really bothered him was that he didn't know why.

That night he dreamt about her.  
She was walking down the street wearing the same cream colored suit she had the day that they spoke in her office. She seemed to be in a hurry so he jogged in order to catch up with her.  
"Hermione!" He yelled out to her, but she carried on in a hurried pace.

"Hermione Granger!" He yelled again so loud that ducked her head down in fright.  
He was trying to catch his breath as he walked in front of her so that he could block her should she try to run away again.  
"Why did you not answer when I was calling you?" He asked.

She looked up at him; totally confused.  
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

He blinked hard a few times, and opened his mouth to speak but shut it again. What the hell was going on?

"Her.. Hermione, Have you gone mad? How can you not know me?"

She looked taken aback, her voice becoming more aggressive. "And stop calling me Hermione! I don't know any Hermione! My name is Stacy Jenkins, and I'm late for a meeting!"

He woke up then, alone in his massive king size bed. Luxury all around him and still he felt so incredibly alone. He knew it would be difficult to get back to sleep now so he slipped on his silk robe (black of course) and went downstairs to make some tea.  
He thought about the dream as he poured water into a kettle and an idea came to him, it was perfect and there was no way that she could possibly reject, or push him away this time. He smirked as he placed the kettle onto the stove, he'd start on it as soon as Tomorrow morning; for he'd already let too much time pass already.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Hermione's intercom chimed, she sighed and pressed down on the button.

"Yes Karen?"

"Stacy, there's an important call for you on line one."

"Who is it?"

"He wouldn't say who he was, but he says it's important."

She sighed again. Why were people so retarded? If they had any desire to conduct business, didn't they know that they'd have to at some point address who they were?

"Put him through." She hung up and not five seconds later, her phone began to ring. She picked up after the second one.

"Stacy Jenkins, Financial Analyst; how can I assist you today?"

"You can assist me by meeting me tomorrow for a business brunch." Replied the silky voice of the man who haunted her dreams.

There was a pause before she answered. "Is this a joke? Are you still upset with me over the spying incident?"

"Miss Granger, when have you ever known me to 'joke' as you so blatantly put it? I am making a legitimate business request."

"Our bank alone has over forty Financial Analysts; five of which are registered with FINRA* and have extensive experience and credentials. Why me?"

" I seriously hope you don't down-talk yourself to all your clients in this way Miss Granger."

"First of all stop calling me that!"

"Why? It is your name."

"Not anymore Mr. 'Alan Rickman' "

"I'll have you know that I use that name as a cover up so I am not discovered; I still am and always will be Severus Snape name change or not just as you will always be Hermione Granger."

There was a long pause and he began to think that she had hung up the phone when he heard her sigh loudly.  
"I know what this is about. You want to relive your dungeon bat years and decided to call me up to have a Hogwarts-style argument bright and early this morning"

He blinked hard a few times in shock before he burst out laughing. Deep, bellyful fits of laughter erupted through the phone. Hermione looked at it in an odd manner as she held the receiver away from her ear.

"Oh, Miss Granger; I haven't heard that term used on me in years! Those nitwitted, scum sucking cretins did have colorful names for me indeed."

"You don't know the half of it." She laughed.

"Oh, but I do." He said in an almost sinister tone that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand erect.

"So, Tomorrow at nine; I willpick you up at your place." It wasn't even a question, it was an order.

"Wait, what? First of all, how do you know where I live?… You know what, don't answer that. Secondly; you don't have to do that, we can just meet up at the destination of your choice."

"I'm not taking no for an answer Miss Granger."

"One of these days you're going to say my name in public and blow my cover."

"Right, because there aren't already over hundreds of people in Great Britain with the name Granger."

"Snarky as ever, I bet you're sneering too."

"Some things will never change Miss Granger… What's that typing noise?"

"I'm adding you to my schedule. Where are we meeting and what kind of business did you want to discuss; I need to know what paperwork I should bring with me."

"Dexter's on fifth."

"Fancy place, you're buying apparently."

"I never let a woman pay."

"Don't crow too loudly, women get excited when they hear that kind of talk especially since many people believe chivalry to be dead."

"It is unwise to kill something off which is still very much alive Miss Granger."

"I'm sure you know this well."

"Indeed."

Wow, where was this conversation headed? Hermione looked over at her clock and saw that she had been talking to him for over fifteen minutes already, and the odd part was that she had enjoyed it much more than she'd like to admit.

"Ok, so what kind of business are you involved in?"

"Drug distribution."

"Well, that explains the fancy car."

"Pharmaceuticals Miss Granger."

"And you're bringing proof of ownership with you Tomorrow, yes? Your past securities and exchange commissions, documents proving the current value of your company?"

"All of the above."

"Excellent, so if there's nothing else; I'll see you Tomorrow then Mr. Rickman."

"Miss Jenkins."

She hung up the phone feeling unbelievingly giddy like she did back in her Hogwarts days where she got excited after his hand accidently grazed against hers when he was giving back their graded homework.  
So much for letting go of the past and moving on.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"So what you're really looking for is someone to evaluate your companies' potential for growth, is that what I'm understanding professor?"

"I'm not a bloody professor anymore Miss Gran.. Jenkins."

Hermione wrote down speedily on her forms. It hadn't really been the romantic brunch she had envisioned but this was after all Severus Snape.

"Ok, all I need for you to do is sign this form. It is essentially stating that you are hiring me via Newbury bank to be your financial analyst and therefore disclosing your confidential information solely to me and Newbury bank . Your signature also counts an affirmation that what you've shown me today is up to date and valid per the laws of Great Britain."

He pulled out his gold tone fountain pen from his pocket and immediately removed the cap to sign. Hermione watched between him and the form.  
"Aren't you going to read it? Just to verify that you comply with what I've just said to you."

"Normally I would Granger, but if there's anyone I can trust, it's you."

"This coming from the man who previously accused me of being hired to maliciously spy on you."

"Actually, I'm familiar with your bank's policies already; I found it on the internet."

"Whoa! You know how to navigate through the internet?"

He raised an annoyed eyebrow at her and quickly signed his name, it looked so elegant. Only Snape could make something as simple as a name look like art work.

After he signed, Hermione took the sheet away from him and waved it in the air so that the ink could dry off before she slipped it in her portfolio.

"So now I will go back to the office and go through the paperwork you've given me today and I shall send you your first report tomorrow afternoon at the latest. So how would you like that sent to you? E-mail? Fax? "

"In person." He said pointedly all the while looking directly at her. When did he get so close? It was especially distracting since he looked so good. He was wearing a steel colored suit with an olive colored tie that brought out the dark tones in his eyes. He smelled of spices, reminding her that she had not enjoyed the company of a man in a very, VERY long time.

She looked away from his eyes quickly and swallowed hard, trying to play it cool.

"Profe.. Mr. Rickman." She said trying not to be distracted by his stare. "I hope you realize that you're not my only client; I don't know if I will have the time to bring this over to you 'in person'."

"I will pay you double." He said silkily. She stayed staring at him waiting for him to throw his hands up in the air and say: "I'm joking" but he didn't; he was serious (as usual). This sat unwell for Hermione and all shyness for him left her immediately.

"Mr. Rickman. Let us come to an understanding right now. Your corporate deviousness and lures may work with the cogs you normally deal with, but I will have you know this very moment that I am not one of them. I uphold value to the time I dedicate to each and every one of my clients and just because one of them holds more assets than others does not mean that I will treat them better.  
I cannot meet with you tomorrow, but I can the day after. I hope you find that acceptable otherwise we might have to terminate this contract. "

Her words left him in awe of her.

Nobody turned down his money; ever. Everyone danced to his tune and bent over backwards to cater to his needs and yet here sat this girl; no, woman who was actually disinterested.  
He didn't know whether to be happy or upset. All he could do was continue to stare at her (careful not give hint of any expression) while he put the cap over his pen and clipped it back inside of his suit pocket.

"Fine." He finally said. "I will be in touch."

And he was. He called that same afternoon while she was in a meeting going over the Smithfield account.  
Kelly buzzed her through the intercom. "Stacy, It's Rickman calling again."

"I'm in a meeting Stacy, tell him to leave a number where I can call him back."

"He sounds like he wants to talk to you now."

"That's too bad. Oh and Kelly, please don't interrupt me again until I'm done with the Smithfields'"

"Yes Stacy; sorry."

"It's ok."

Hermione was done forty five minutes later, she had a few minutes before she had to go home so she buzzed Kelly to get the number Snape had left behind.  
She called and thought that he wouldn't answer when she suddenly heard him roar through the phone: "I called you over an hour ago and now is when you return my bloody call?"

"I'm fine thanks."

He sighed and closed his eyes. Trying not to let his temper get the better of him, this time he forced himself to speak in a calm tone. "When are you bringing my documents Miss Granger?"

"Hold on, let me open my calendar. Umm.. Day after tomorrow at six, right after I get off from work. I could swing by and leave it.. Where did you want me to leave it anyway?"

"Come by my house; I'll be home by then, and I suppose I could feed you as well."

"How can a girl refuse such an offer?"

"You have become quite the comedian in your adult years Miss Granger."

"And yet you are as charming as ever Professor."

"Day after tomorrow, do not be late."

**Hrrmmm.. seems like they've got some obstacles to overcome huh?  
I guess you know by now that it will be more than 2 chapters after all.**

*Financial Industry Regulatory Authority


	3. Chapter 3

It was the day that Hermione was to go to Snapes house and she didn't really know how to feel about it. She was beginning to questing whether getting back in touch with an old crush that use to be her professor and had been presumed dead was really such a good idea. She thought that the staged death would've freed him of his grouchiness and severity only to find that he had traded in his power within the wiz world in for riches and power within the muggle world. The man had money. His company alone was worth up to 30 mil pounds to say nothing of his other assets. How he had come to build such an empire for himself in such a short amount of time both disturbed and amazed her.  
What he had tried to pull on her during brunch brought many questions to mind. She was beginning to question his conduct and ethics but after going through his paperwork for the third time, there seemed no evidence of foul play. He had legitimate clients, vendors, the whole bit.  
She drew up charts and graphs that illustrated how his money was being distributed and had a separate column with some advice on how to manage the cash flow better. She was printing the last of his paperwork when Kelly interrupted her.

"Stacy, Rickman is on line 3"

"Fine, I'll take it."

She picked up after the second ring, a smile on her face. "Mr. Rickman, how are you this afternoon?"

"You got what I need Granger?"

She sighed loudly, her smile instantly turning into a frown. "Would it kill you to be courteous to me just one time?"

"Was that in the contract?"

She paused to think about his answer. Then thought back to how she had been reflecting on what she thought of him as a person so far and realized she didn't have the patience to deal with his character today.

"I have your reports. I will be by to drop them off at Seven just as we agreed."

"And while you're here, I want to discuss some other.."

"No." She interrupted.

"I'm not staying; I'm just dropping off the reports. If you want to have a meeting to go over anything else you'll have to call the office and get Kelly to schedule one."

"Granger, I will not tolerate you backing out on me. The arrangement was that you were supposed to come by and have dinner."

"Are you listening to yourself? Why would I want to share a meal with someone who doesn't even have the courtesy to give me a proper salutation over the phone? I'm a human being, not one of your drones."

"Granger.." He said in a warning tone.

"As a matter of fact, I'm just going to fax this directly to you. I'm not going to spend my money on gas to drive out to where you live just to deal with your foul temper. Good day to you Mr. Rickman."  
She hung up; she was so upset that her hands were shaking. Before he could call back, she buzzed Kelly telling her to hold all of her calls. She printed the last of what she was initially going to give Snape personally and then walked over to the fax where she purposefully punched in the appropriate number and hit send. A triumphant smile formed on her face when the last sheet went through the machine. He may had had power over her when she was his student, but those days were over.  
It was a shame though for she had believed him to act that way because of his circumstances at the time. She had always thought that had the situation been different, he really would've been a nicer, kinder person. Occasionally he'd let his guard down and actually display courteous human emotion but seeing him at present was causing everything she had started to feel again go down the drain. If he reproached her for what she had done, she would terminate the contract, simple as that; she was not a child anymore.

She would go home, curl up with a good book and down a half gallon of chocolate raspberry ice cream. That always made her feel better.

Two hours later she was walking out of her office past reception. "Good night Kelly."

"Night Stacy, I'll just leave all of your messages on your desk so you can do call backs tomorrow morning" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Who are they from?"

"One is from Smithfield and the rest are from that Rickman fellow. What's his deal anyway?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know, I'll deal with it tomorrow."

"Yeah, have a good night."

She was walking out towards her car, watching the golden hues of the setting sun made her desperately wish that she was off in some distant, exotic land, or maybe Italy. Come to think of it, she really needed to go on vacation. It would definitely be a welcome distraction to what she was currently having to endure.

"You always were a day dreamer Granger." Came a deep voice a few feet away. She swerved her head and saw Snape leaning against her car with his arms crossed in front of him. He was wearing a pinstriped gray suit today, his hair was gelled back; her stomach flipped and her heart rate increased just looking at him.

"I threw my wand in the ocean four years ago and left my pepper spray in a different purse so I'm ill equipped to duel with you at present."

"I didn't come here to fight." He said in a softer tone.

"News to me." She grumbled as she walked past him and opened up the door of the passenger car, putting away her laptop and portfolio.

"I owe you an apology Miss Granger."

She looked over at him in shock before closing the door of the passenger seat and coming around to meet him. He was still leaning against the car, apparently unable to move. "You do. You were behaving like a jerk."

"Behaving in this manner gives me results."

She stayed staring at him, no particular expression on her face. " Being kind and honorable brings results too."

"Words from an ex-Gryffindor indeed." He sneered.

A frustrated look flashed across her face and she began to walk towards the driver's side of the car. He had to admit that she looked incredibly attractive when she was angry. Her cheeks would flush pink, and her eyes would take on a spark that begged to be displayed time and time again. "This ex Gryffindor is tired and hungry, good day to you Mr. Rickman."

"Wait." He said as he finally budged from his previous spot and came around to her.

"I really did have dinner arrangements planned for us. Despite my behavior; I do appreciate what you've done. Your turn around time is quick and the work you submitted earlier is very precise and to the point. I especially liked how you created a column with comments on how to distribute cash flow. I don't know of anyone else who would've come up with such a creative idea. Wont you.." She could tell he was having a difficult time doing this. "Please allow me to show you my gratitude?"

What a complicated man. One minute he was bringing out the worst in her and now he was praising her, what was his deal?

"Why don't you leave your car here and I'll drive us to my home, that way you save on... gas." He added teasingly.

She hated that she wasn't going to turn him down. She should keep this professional, he already got his report, there really wasn't any need for her to go now but she was already getting out of the driver's seat and looking pointedly at his handsome, well groomed face.

"Are you going to stop behaving like an ass?"

"In general no, but towards you.. I will make the effort."

She locked the door to her car and turned to look for the black Bentley only to find that he was opening the door for her to a black BMW sports car. She raised an eyebrow to which he did the same in turn. "I have more than one car Miss Granger."

"I would too if I had all that drug money."

"There's that comedic humor I'm growing so fond of." He replied in a bored manner.

Back in the office, Kelly was standing next to the glass double doors looking out into the parking lot watching as Stacy got into Mr. Rickman's car. A smile playing on her lips as she watched them drive away.

OoOoOoOoOoO

From the moment that they had pulled up to Snape's three car garage, He had been in complete awe of his home. He had brought in a decorator to design, and purchase everything, mostly in dark green or black colors. It looked like a modern gothic castle. She didn't even want to think about what everything cost and she had just seen the first floor.

They were out on the patio, she sat on a sliding chair and was rocking back and forth as she looked out at the small garden he kept.

"So, what do you think of my home?" He asked proudly.

"I don't have to tell you that it's absolutely beautiful, but I do have a question."

"Don't you always?" He said as he sat next to her.

She looked directly at him, no particular expression on her face. "Does having all of this make you happy?"

His smug expression turned into a shocked one, when she realized he wasn't going to answer, she asked again: "Are you happy professor? When you were planning your death, is this the outcome that you expected?"

One word confirmed her suspicion. "No." He finally replied as he turned away from her. She thought he wasn't going to elaborate on the subject but then he started to explain.  
"I didn't really have a plan Granger. I just wanted out plain and simple. I simply went with what I know and everything just sort of happened." He looked around at his surroundings before looking back at her.

"Don't you think I know that all of this could be taken away from me in the blink of an eye? And then what would I have left? It is the same as before. I've changed the environment, the circumstances but not the situation, and the fact is Granger that I don't know how to be something that I've never been. I don't understand happiness as you do."

"Who said I was happy?" She replied gruffly.

He simply looked at her with no defined expression on his face.

"You and I are not so different when you really think about it." She looked off towards his plants, noticing how extremely well kept they were, he probably had a gardener come in and take care of his landscaping. "Life didn't turn out the way we planned and the best solution was to flee in search of something else, but running doesn't solve the problem so we turn to what we know. For me it's been throwing myself into my work and just hiding from the world in general. I knew happiness once but how do you try to find something that no longer exists?"

He leaned back against the sliding chair and rocked in the same motion as she was. "I know no such answer Granger, all I know is that what I do now works for me, I am a respected, sought after man, and I don't deny that I like it. This..." He motioned around his house. "Is proof of my success; 'happiness' is irrelevant."

His words left her feeling extremely empty and depressed, she said nothing as she continued to look towards his yard, both still rocking back and forth in the same motion. He peeked over at her, knowing that her mind must be taking what he had just said and going in fifty thousand directions. As she sat there, he noted how lovely she had become now that she was an adult, Men surely sought out her company, and if they didn't they were fools.

"Don't you date Granger?" He found himself asking despite himself.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Occasionally, it's been a while though; you?"

"Same as you but it usually never goes past one date."

"Why is that?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Because they're usually just after my money or a position within my company."

"And you are aware of this before you date them?"

"Absolutely."

"Then why..."

"I have to keep company somehow Granger; I am a man after all."

Her eyes widened and he knew that they needed to change the subject. "I haven't offered you anything to drink, what can I get you?"

"Umm.." She couldn't answer; she was still hung up on what he had said previously. "May I suggest a French Chablis? I have one chilling in the refrigerator."

"Yeah, that will be fine." She replied as she got up and followed him in the house.

Dinner was a surprisingly pleasant affair. Snape had actually taken the time to prepare the meal and it was exquisite. Rack of lamb with boiled potatoes topped with an herb cream sauce. They even had dessert which was a fruit tart; that he did buy.

"More wine?" He offered as she finished the last of her tart.

"No thank you; I like to be able to see straight."

"Which makes me wonder; has the Gryffindor princess ever gotten drunk in her lifetime?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, by accident and it's an experience I could go without reliving."

He gave her a wicked grin then and she narrowed her stare at him. "You trying to get me drunk?"

"Of course not!" He replied in a reproachful manner.

"I'm not sleeping with you; let's just get that straight right now."

"Believe me Granger, that was never the intention."

She blinked, trying to ignore the effects of the alcohol. "Wait, what?"

"I believe you heard me the first time." He said lifting his glass up to his mouth, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You wouldn't sleep with me?"

"Never" He replied pointedly.

"Oh good" She said in a voice that didn't sound like her own. "Because I wouldn't sleep with you either."

Her eyes darted toward his kitchen, suddenly unable to look him directly in the eye. There was a clock there informing them that it was already 11:00pm .

"Well that can't be the time!" She exclaimed.

He turned around to see what she was looking at. "It is; I take it you need me to drive you back now."

"Please, I still have some files to go over before I go in the office tomorrow."

He got up and helped her out. The drive back to her car was comfortably silent until they were in the familiar parking lot. She turned to him; a sincere smile on her face. "I had a good time tonight."  
He in turn rolled his eyes. "Good Gods Miss Granger, you sound like a first year after coming back from her first date."  
She frowned and slapped his arm.  
"I'm trying to be polite you jerk!"

"Well where is it?" He asked

"What?" She asked in a confused manner.

"Aren't we supposed to shake hands after a first date?" She huffed and got out of the car and then slammed the door shut. He lowered the window and hollered while she was stomping towards her car: "A kiss on the cheek?"  
She fumed grumbling all the way "Dungeon bastard.. the nerve!"

He chuckled darkly as he watched her, making sure her car had turned on and she was out of the lot before he in turn left to go back to his home, all the while realizing that he had not had such an enjoyable evening in a very long time.

**Alright kids, BewilderedFemale's got a date with Mr. Beach this weekend so she might not update until Tuesday… Maybe..  
Thanks for reading, and reviewing!**


	4. Chapter 4

It was Monday, four days after the Dinner. Hermione got a call that afternoon: "Stace, line two; it's Rickman"

"Thanks, put it through."

She picked up after the first ring, the butterflies already working their magic in her stomach; she wondered when she'd hear from him again. "This is Stacy."

"Liar" He replied darkly.

"Shhhh.. Nobody knows that."

"How is the Ex Gryffindor princess doing today?"

"She is busy, but doing alright. You?"

"Same as you. I'm actually in the process of making arrangements to leave town on business. I am scheduled to return on Friday and wanted to know if you'd like to meet me when I get back."

"For...?"

"You insult me Granger. You really think there is a hidden motive?"

"Of course; especially coming from you."

"You catch on quick; I like that."

Hermione raised a brow. "I'm sure."

"I'm meeting with a possible investor and I wanted to go over some figures with you, see your take on it."

She sighed, slightly disappointed that she had guessed this is what he was calling for. A part of her had been wanting to be proved wrong.

"You know, that sounds like something a financial broker would do not an analyst. They're more qualified to give you advice on investments, I just direct you on what to do with the monies you have at hand. I would hope that a man of your caliber would already have one."

"I do."

"Good. I unfortunately would not be of much help there."

He was silent on the other end and suddenly Hermione's intercom buzzed. "Stace, Deninger on line three."

"Oh! I have to let you go Professor, I need to take this call."

"Yes, I have to go as well, have a good day Granger."

"Yes, you too. Have a safe trip!"

During her phone conference her mind kept thinking back on her conversation with Severus. Maybe she should've said yes even if she really wouldn't have been of much help, but at the same time it was probably better that they keep their distance with one another. She couldn't risk becoming attached to someone who obviously cared so much about his money and power, where would she fit in that picture?

In the end it was better to just leave things alone.

OoOoOoOoOoO

It was Thursday when Bob came down to leave her some spreadsheets. She raised a brow at the load of work that was piled on her desk. "Oh and uh.. Deninger wants this done by Tomorrow." He said.

"Is he out of his bald mind?" Hermione cried out.

Bob snickered. "I'm just relaying the message. I'm willing to help you though, I could use the overtime."

She sighed as she picked up the sheets. "I would really appreciate it. How bout we go out and get it done, just to get out of the office. Let's go to Benkmann's, that's a pretty nice, quiet place."

"Yeah that's fine, I just need to call my woman and tell her; I'll call you in a few minutes to confirm."

"Yeah, you do that." She replied without looking up.

A few minutes later he confirmed and it was set. After work they lugged all their paperwork and laptops over to Benkmann's and got to work straight away. It was normal for people in the corporate world to frequent the establishment so it was common to see groups of people cluttered together conducting business.

Hermione put her pencil down and pulled back her hair while sighing. "I need a drink."

"Make mine a double." Bob said without looking away from his screen.  
She got up and walked over to the bar, getting a Cider for herself and a double of scotch for Bob. Normally it took some doing to get Hermione to start feeling the effects of alcohol but she had nothing in her stomach and after the first one, she was already starting to feel a nice buzz.  
Bob apparently did too for they had stopped working and were now gossiping about their fellow coworkers.

"So you know that they're secretly dating right?"

"NOO!" Hermione cried out, a wide smile plastered on her face as she watched Bob spill the juicy details.

He nodded vehemently. "If you notice, they come to work at almost the same exact time and even though they're very discreet, you can tell that it's obviously done. There is such a thing as being too discreet"

Hermione began to giggle as she pictured the two said persons going out of their way to hide their relationship from the world.

"There's no way!" Hermione said as she slammed her hand down on the table.

Bob got up from his chair. "I'm gonna get us another drink; I'll be right back."

She sighed and she leaned back against her chair, still smiling. It was nice to get out and just take a break from normalcy even if it was work related. She felt someone sit across from her and she looked up with a smile: "Oh wow, that was fa..!"

A gasp escaped her when she realized that it was not Bob who was sitting across from her but Severus Snape himself; looking as attractive as ever, all except the scowl he wore. Any moment she was expecting him to take points away from Gryffindor.

Her eyes were wide in shock. "What are you doing here? I thought you were out of town?"

He didn't answer and almost immediately a waiter came up to ask what he wanted, which made Hermione in turn frown since she and Bob had been there for over an hour and nobody had approached them. They had had to get their drinks themselves.

"Whisky on the rocks." He replied without looking at the waiter, his deep stare never wavering off of Hermione's face.

"I hope I'm not interrupting. Your. Date." He said pointedly with a sneer.

"DATE?" She said in a reproachful manner. "You call this a date?" She said as she picked up stacks of paperwork and waved it in front of him.

"That's what it looked like a few minutes ago when you were laughing it up with whoever that was.. He's a bit young for you don't you think?"

She looked at him and began to laugh in an exaggerated manner. The waiter came back with his drink, watching her with concern on his face all the while Snape just lifted a not-amused brow.

"Let me tell you what a proper date for me would consist of Mr. Rickman. First of all, it would be away from prying eyes, preferably on the hill tops of Cedar Park overlooking the country valley in the evening. We'd spread out a blanket, pull out a basket with a bottle of wine, some light appetizers where we'd chat and consume food and beverage until the sky is dark and blanketed with stars and then we'd screw until neither one of us is able to say a coherent word. All of this we'd do and have the assurance that there would be more future dates similar to that planned for I am most certainly not a one time fling. That, Mr. Rickman is my idea of a proper date. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I must be leaving."

She got up only to see Bob standing there holding their drinks and a totally shocked expression on his face. "I'm sorry Bob, I have to suddenly go. I wanna thank you so very much for helping me out and give my regards to your darling. WIFE." She said with emphasis as she looked over at Snape. She grabbed her things and left immediately.  
The waiter who had brought Snape's drink looked over at them and asked: "Do any of you know her phone number?"  
Snape looked at her disappearing form longingly, flushed, and breathing hard, he picked up his drink, swallowed the contents in it's entirely down in one gulp and handed it back to the waiter. "Be a lad and bring me two more of those please."

OoOoOoOoOoO

Almost from the very moment that she left Benkmann's she felt bad. She knew she had gone too far, and there had really been no need for it but what really bothered her was that she couldn't seem to control herself around him. It was as if all of her compressed desires would burst forth in the worst way possible.

The next morning she saw a few sticky notes on her desk and she knew that that meant she had messages, yet when she came around and looked at them she saw that none of them were from Rickman. She couldn't blame him after the way she had behaved even though it had been provoked by him.  
She looked at her phone and after contemplating it a few times, she picked up the receiver and dialed, anxiously drumming her fingers against her desk as it rang.

He didn't answer and it went directly to voice mail.  
"Listen, I just wanted to apologize for Yesterday. I've been under a lot of stress, and I shouldn't have said all of those things to you, it was unprofessional and distasteful. I guess that's all I really wanted to say; have a good weekend."

The rest of the day went by in an uneventful manner, he didn't call back and she wasn't really sure what that meant. Then when she was putting her things away and getting ready to go home, Kelly's voice came through the intercom. "Rickman Line 1"  
Her heart practically dropped as she reached across the desk and pressed down on the button. "Put him through."

She picked up on the second ring, not wanting to seem too desperate.

"Hi."

"Good Afternoon Granger, were you just leaving?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"The receptionist said you might not be there."

"I take it you got my message."

"There is no need to apologize Granger. If anything I found the contents of your declaration yesterday to be rather amusing."

_Of course he would_she thought to herself. She didn't really know what to say to that and there was silence between them for a few seconds. He cleared his throat loudly before speaking again. "I got back early into town which is why I was there Yesterday."

"What a cheap excuse, we both know you were spying on me." She covered her mouth with her hand, not even believing she had actually said that.

"Except that I chose to be discovered where as you were painfully obvious."

"Wait, does that mean you really were?"

"Granger, the reason I called is because I've been given two tickets to some show downtown…"

"…. And you want to get my opinion on what their financial value is worth?"

There was silence and she started laughing. "I'm willing to bet money that you're sneering right now."

"I knew it." He said.

"What?"

"You've been having me followed since you did such a poor job of it yourself."

"Yes, because I can afford to pay a private investigator's salary. What time is the show?"

"Half an hour."

"What? That doesn't even give me time to change!"

"I'm pulling up to your parking lot now."

"But.."

"We'll be late if you don't hurry."

She sighed. "I'll be right there."

She closed her door, tugging along her laptop and portfolio as she ran down the hall past reception.

"Bye Kelly! Have a good weekend!" She said.

"Yeah Stacy, you too!" She waved in turn, watching as she ran towards the Black Bentley and opened the door to the passenger side revealing Mr. Rickman behind the wheel. She raised a knowing brow and slowly sat back down, tapping her chin with her pencil as she hummed in thought.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Hermione stared at Severus from across the table in a bored manner. They had been there for approximately twelve minutes and the show wasn't leading towards anything promising. On stage stood a man wearing a tacky suit with a cape that looked as if it had previously been a table cloth. "I'm going to tap my hat three times with my magic wand and ... Presto!" He pulled out a fake rabbit and began moving it around to make people think it was alive. People around them gasped in shock and then clapped enthusiastically meanwhile Hermione smacked her forehead in shame. She couldn't believe that the man actually called himself a wizard, and people were buying into it.  
She turned to find Severus standing behind her, pulling her chair from the table, a severe expression on his face. "Come on; I have no desire to watch this Squib."

She got up instantly and both of them made a hasty retreat towards the exit, the sound of applause and laughter following them all the way out.

"People are idiots!" Severus said with a sneer.

"Who in the world gave you those tickets?"

"A customer, I should've known better since the ticket stub says 'A night of Magic' "

Hermione raised an amused brow. "More like a night of torture if you ask me."

"Yes well.. " Severus replied as he threw the stubs in a nearby trash can. "What would you like to do? We've still got the night ahead of us."

A coy grin formed on her face as she approached him. She gave him a flirty smile that made his stomach flip. He swallowed hard as he looked at her, making absolutely sure that his face remained expressionless. "I have an idea but I don't think you'd be up to it."

"Why is that?" He asked in a voice that came out husky.

"Hmm.. I don't know that you'd be able to keep up with me, but it's so much fun and exciting. I don't know that you'd be able to handle it."

"Yes, Heaven forbid I do anything fun and exciting with a gorgeous young woman." He mumbled.

Hermione's coy smile dropped and was replaced with surprise. "Did you just say?"

"Get in the car, and tell me where this fun and exciting place is."

"No wait, back up, what did you just say?"

"I said for you to get in the car, unless you rather walk." He looked down towards her spiked heels. "Although I really don't think that would be advisable."

"No, before that!" She followed as he got in the car.

He continued to ignore her and looked at himself in the mirror before turning to her again. "Are we going to this fun and exciting place or not?"

She sighed and sat back against her seat before giving him the directions; maybe he hadn't said anything after all, it was best to just let it go.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Severus sneered as he looked at the outside of the building from where they stood.

"This is your idea of fun an exciting?"

"Yeah, come on." She said as she walked happily ahead, she turned around to find that he wasn't following so she ran back and practically dragged him inside. They got in line where a young man greeted them (particularly at Hermione) with a warm smile. "Two pairs of shoes then?"

"Yes, 4.5 for me and .." She looked over at Severus who remained silent until she nudged him. "8.5" He replied dryly. Her eyes went wide, the man had big feet, and everyone knows what they say about men with big feet…. The young man brought out the shoes and Severus' expression became even more severe. "These horrid clown shoes are what we're going to be bowling in?"

"Yeah, they make them that way so that people are not tempted to steal them."

Hermione was pulling out her purse to pay when Severus bumped her to the side and beat her to giving the young man money. She huffed angrily when she looked up to see a grin on his face, but then she turned around and noticed the concession stand. She gave him one last look before sneaking off and running at full speed towards another young man wearing a some kind of odd paper chef's hat. He looked at her and smiled, "No need to hurry, we've still got food left."

"Can you please send a pitcher of Strongbow, two glasses, and a large deluxe pizza over to lane eight please?"

He tallied up her total and she looked back to make sure Severus wasn't anywhere in sight. He was only now putting away his money and grabbing the shoes when she pulled out her money. The young man gave her the receipt and she dashed back towards him. He was holding their shoes and looking around.

"Where did you run off to?"

"Ladies room."

He looked her up and down before looking at himself. "So we're really going to bowl in our current attire?"

She looked at herself, noting the skirt suit and pantyhose she was wearing, and then looked at his fine suit and tie. She looked up and gave him her biggest smile. "It looks that way, come on!"  
He rolled his eyes but followed her where they found lane eight. The lights on the side of the lane was illuminated, showing that it was ready to be in use. Hermione sat in front of the console and typed in their names. "Stacy VS Alan"

Her name came up first and she looked around for a ball to use. "Oh look at this pretty pink one." But when she tried to pick it up, she immediately dropped it on the floor. "Holy cow!" She grumbled. Severus came over and lifted it up for her. "The weight of the ball is displayed on the bottom."

"Yes I know that!"

"Hmmm.. right." He rolled his eyes as he went to find one for himself. He ended up picking up an emerald colored one that weighed ten pounds while she picked one that was six pounds and lavender in color.

"Have you actually ever bowled before Granger?" He asked as he watched her take off her suit jacket and roll up her shirt sleeves. "It's been a while, but I remember having a good time." She replied as she was now lacing up her clown shoes.  
He picked up his pair and started to do the same.

"Ok, here I go." She said as she started striding towards the platform. She stopped just before her left foot stepped into the foul line, her right shoulder swung back and then came forward before she let go of the ball. Once the ball touched the platform there was a thunderous sound and it looked like it was initially going straight to the gutter. Severus did not hide his smirk as he watched but then just as it was reaching the pins, the ball did an odd sort of spin and moved closer to the center of the lane where it collided against the pins, causing all of them to topple over.  
The screen flashed an X next to her name and the words "STRIKE!"

She turned around, hand on her hip and an arrogant expression on her face. She walked saucily over to him before she sat down next to where he was standing. "Beginners luck" he mumbled before he walked down the platform himself.  
She had to admit he had good form and he had obviously done this before, she wondered where and with whom. She heard the toppling of the pins and looked up at the board, there was still one pin standing. He waited for the ball to come back and easily bucked that one off too. While he was doing that however the pitcher of Strongbow cider arrived so that when he turned around she was already pouring some in her glass.  
"I don't recall us ordering this."

"We didn't. I did."

"When?" but then he remembered when she had ran off and a scowl formed on his face.

"I thought we've agreed that I pay."

"Sure, but you were busy paying for the shoes and the lane, so I had to take care of it."

"You said you were in the ladies' room, must I accompany you next time to make sure you don't run off somewhere else?"

She picked up her glass of strongbow and took a long drink before flashing him a mischievous grin. "Yes, and you can watch as well."  
He remained expressionless as he walked over to her, he stood just mere inches away from her and leant down, for a moment it looked as if he was going to kiss her and her eyes opened wide as she was unable to move, or breathe for that matter.

"Be careful what you wish for." He whispered huskily in her ear.  
She stood frozen in place even after he turned to pour himself a glass of cider for himself. He took a sip and his eyebrows shot up. "I have never had this before, what is it?"  
She finally snapped out of her haze, and cleared her throat. "Strongbow Cider. I don't really care for beer but I like to drink something with a kick when I bowl."

"Touche." He answered as he lifted the glass to his mouth again. She came over to him and lifted her glass. "Here's to spying."

"Or lack of." He grumbled.

"Whatever."

They clinked their glasses together and Hermione downed the last of her cider before placing it on the table with a thud. He looked at her with amusement, "Shouldn't you go easy? You haven't eaten anything."

"Yet.." She said as she looked past him. The guy with the funny looking paper hat came over and placed the pizza next to the cider, the wonderful smell of it made her stomach grumble.

"Can I get you folks anything else?"

"When we finish this pitcher, which is already half empty; you can bring us another."

Severus pulled out his credit card and handed it to him before she could make another move. "Charge it on this card please."

Hermione refilled her glass and took another long drink before she picked up her ball with a smile and made her way to the platform again. This time it really did go straight to the gutter and Severus could not hold back a dark chuckle. "Where is that young man? I'm going to change the order to two pitchers instead of one."

"I was loafing; it was done on purpose!" She huffed.

"You never were a good liar Granger." He said as he lifted the ball, but his tie was getting in the way so he placed the ball back down and began to undo the knot. Hermione watched in total fascination as he removed his tie and then rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. If only the old gang could see him now; Severus Snape wearing muggle business clothes and clown shoes.  
He looked up while she was observing him and she in turn winked at him. A side effect from the cider for had she been in her normal wits she wouldn't have been so bold. He remained perfectly impassive when he picked up his ball again and aimed towards the pins in another well formed serve, knocking out five in the one shot.

"Where did you learn how to bowl?" She asked as she grabbed a slice of pizza.

"One of our major vendors is into bowling so playing this game and business sort of go hand in hand when dealing with him; that is how I learned."

"You're very good."

"Praise indeed coming from the Gryffindor Princess."

She watched as he bowled a strike; a hazy grin forming on her face.

Three pitchers later, Severus called for a driver to come pick them up. He felt alright but he still didn't want to risk endangering himself or Hermione. The drinks and the excitement of the game having tired them out; they rode in comfortable silence and once they both got out of the car Hermione turned to him. "You bowled a good game; 160 is pretty impressive."

"You didn't do too badly yourself although I still say it's beginners luck with your 140."

She smiled and looked out into the distance, he never took his eyes off her. Her cheeks were red and her eyes had a slight glaze to them. It also didn't help that alcohol usually heightened his libido; he could feel a desire he didn't wish to have forming in the pit of his stomach and yet he couldn't stop looking at her. She caught him looking so he quickly had to disguise it under the teasing category.

"So, what does the first year do after her second date? Is she going to perhaps…"

Right in the middle of his sentence she walked up to him and in her tired, alcohol induced boldness, she cradled his face with her small hands and pulled him down for a kiss. He felt the sensation travel all throughout his body but mostly in his nether regions, making him painfully aware of how much he wanted this woman right now. He instantly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his body. He let out a groan while he was still kissing her; it was divine. Kissing had never felt so extraordinary, and all his brain could register was that he needed to feel more and then… she let go and pulled back.  
He stared at her in shock, breathing hard, still wanting so much more. She in turned smiled and began to walk towards the entrance of her flat before she turned around again.

"It's not what a first year will do but it's what I do. Thank you for tonight; I had a lovely time." And then she was gone. She actually walked away, and he was stunned.

Women didn't walk away him, they threw themselves at him, but he knew and understood that Hermione was no ordinary woman. He sighed loudly and tried to pull himself back together before he got back in his car and barked at the driver.  
"Take me home; now!"

It was most definitely going to be one of those sleepless nights.

**I'm back Darlings!**  
**I made the story extra long as a thank you; please leave me your thoughts!**


	5. Chapter 5

For most people, Saturday consisted of being able to relax and unwind from the hastiness of work throughout the week; not for Severus.

He was in his office bright and early since 7:00am it was now 10:00am. When he angrily threw his pencil to the side and gave an exasperated sigh. All bloody night and all morning all his mind kept going back to was that kiss.

He wasn't even a man who really enjoyed kissing before so why now? Why with Granger of all people? He just couldn't shake how indescribable the sensation was and what it did to him. It was a promise of a mind blowing experience and she had cut him off. He was still trying to figure that one out too. He knew that she was at least attracted to him, he could see it in her eyes when she would sneak glances of him so why did she stop?

He looked up at his computer screen and knew he couldn't do this, not today when the rest of the world was out having a good time with people they actually gave a damn about. If there were five other people in the building right now it would be a lot. He hadn't even bothered to tell security to light up the office so the only source of light was emanating from the computer screen.

He looked over at his cell phone and was about to pick it up when he put down again angrily. He was not expecting for things to get out of hand like this, he was acting like a bloody teenager! And There was no way he was going to allow the Ex Gryffindor Princess to wield that much power over him. If he immersed himself in his work like he usually did; he'd forget about the whole incident.

OoOoOoOoO

"Hello?" Hermione asked curiously when she saw a number she didn't recognize on the caller ID.

"You're not at work as I am?" She smiled smugly at the sound of his voice and remembered the night before. It had taken every single ounce of strength to pull away from the most amazing kiss ever, but of course; she would never tell him that.

"No Mr. Rickman; it's Saturday. I am not required at the office today.. and how did you get my home number? I don't remember ever giving it to you."

"Are you really asking me that Granger?"

"Fine, what are you doing at work? It's Saturday."

"I'm obviously working. What are you doing?"

"Doing some cleaning, laundry, and I'm about to make breakfast."

"What's for breakfast?"

"A Mediterranean omelet sandwiched in between buttery flat bread and bacon."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long couple of seconds and for a minute she thought that the line had gotten disconnected. "Hello? You still there?"

"Yes."

"Oh, you didn't say anything."

"Because I'm packing up my things."

"Huh?"

"Make enough for two." Was all he said before she heard a dial tone. She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it disbelievingly then she looked at her frumpy short shorts and overly large night shirt.

"Damn, can't have him see me in this." She went to her room and immediately changed clothes. Nothing too spectacular for she certainly didn't want him to think she was going out of her way to impress him, so she opted for some comfortable pants that fit her curves quite snugly and a nice flowery button down shirt and some sandals. It was nice and comfortable.

She was just taking the bacon out of the frying pan when there was a knock on her door. She quickly put everything down and took a deep breath while smoothing out her clothes before she opened to find him standing with his arms behind his back. She opened the door wide and moved to the side so he could come in. As he did, he brought his arms in front where he presented her with a green bag.

"What's all this?" She asked as a smile formed on her face.

"A pound of blue mountain coffee and a fruit tart. It's the same one you had when we had dinner at my place; I realized that you liked it."

"Blue mountain coffee?" She stammered. That stuff was not cheap. Heck, half a pound could cost anywhere from 25 pounds.

"It is very smooth; I think you will like it."

"Thank you; I'm going to make some right now." She took a deep breath and pointed towards her small living area; there was a chair and a small loveseat. "Please make yourself at home while I just finish making breakfast."

She disappeared towards the kitchen and he remained standing with his hands in his pockets. As he suspected, she had various bookshelves crammed with all kinds of literature, a small desk with her laptop placed in the center. In the corner of the room was a very small 20 inch tv set tucked away and there was a shelf next to it filled with various DVD's. The room had lots of windows which she had open and all of the morning sun was streaming in giving the place a very cozy and warm feeling; it was the exact opposite of his house to be frank. His house was immaculately ordered and tidy while she had various books, and papers scattered about but it wasn't exactly messy either.  
He noticed that she didn't keep pictures or any burgundy and gold memorabilia as he might've imagined; everything was simple yet tasteful. He began to browse one of the shelves and noticed she had a lot of cook books and picked one out. "Eating In Tuscany."  
As he flipped through the pages he saw that she had several of them bookmarked and had even written notes as to which restaurant she would want to try. It was almost as if she had been making plans to go there on holiday. He made a mental note of this and closed the book before he placed it back on the shelf.

"It's ready!" He heard her say. The smell of bacon was driving him crazy so he quickly turned towards her; allowing a small grin to form on his face.

OoOoOoOoOoO

She didn't really have a dining room per say so they were crammed in the corner of the kitchenette where she had placed a small table and two chairs.

"Granger, where did you learn how to cook like that?" He asked as he leaned lazily against the chair. He was feeling full and slightly sleepy, and comfortably at ease… That hardly ever happened, he would have to examine this closely at a later time.

"Books; I'm sure you noticed them on the shelves while you were waiting."

"I scanned a few, so you taught yourself?"

"Pretty much, and watching cooking shows."

"So is this was you normally do on the weekends? Chores and cooking?"

"I do other things as well of course." She said as she held her cup of coffee in front of her, slightly smirking. He leaned forward and lifted a curious eyebrow.

"Such as?"

She leaned forward as well, since the table was small their faces were just inches away from one another. She felt butterflies work their magic in her stomach, and the memories of the previous night came to light in her mind but she forced herself to not drop her stare.

"I think I would have to show you."

"Oh?"

She leaned back against her chair and gave him a playful smile.

"It wouldn't do the activity justice."

He was intrigued but wouldn't give her the satisfaction of openly admitting it. He looked at his wristwatch in a bored manner before rolling his eyes.

"I suppose I have time."

"Really? You don't have to go back to work?"

"I don't." He said simply.

Without another word, she got up and began clearing the dishes before she went over to what he imagined was her bedroom and came out with a handbag over her shoulder and wearing a pair of sunglasses.

"Let's go." She called out to him as she walked over to the front door. He got up and put the chair back in its proper place before following her out. He gave her a cautious stare just as they were exiting.

"I'm trusting you Granger." He warned.

She couldn't help but laugh and give him a sly grin in return. "Yes; I know."


	6. Chapter 6

**I haven't forgotten about this story but I have to admit that I was a bit discouraged after that whole "FF cracking down and deleting stories" bit. Especially since a lot of authors whose works I read were no doubt affected by it.  
TBird1965, if you by chance are reading this, send me a PM, you have no idea how disappointed I was to find out that you're no longer a member; I cried, seriously.**

"I should've known.." Severus grumbled bitterly as he smacked his hand on the side of his face. How could he have not foreseen this?

"That's why I didn't say anything, because I knew that if I told you, there was no way I was going to get you to come."

They were at the parking lot and getting out of her car as they made their way towards the entrance, already he could see the drones of people busily walking to and from the dreaded horror that could only be described as the outlet mall.

"Don't act as if you've never gone shopping before professor; how else do you own all that fine clothes?"

He visibly cringed when he heard her refer to him as professor. It especially bothered him since she had given him what was probably the most extraordinary kiss he had ever had.  
"Granger, when are you going to let up and call me Severus? I'm not your bloody professor anymore!"

"When you start calling me Hermione." She replied with a smile on her face as they were nearing the first store out of the 104 that were in the outlet.  
He opened the door for her and they went in, it happened to be a store that catered specifically to handbags and accessories. Once he heard her yelp in excitement at the advertisements displaying a storewide 40% off, he knew he was doomed.  
He watched her run around with a fascinated grin on her face as she picked through the various colors of handbags, he had to admit that she needed a new one if the one she was carrying was any indication of it. It looked extremely worn out and one of the handles was coming apart. He saw that she was particularly looking at a black leather one, an excellent choice in his humble opinion. She was trying it on and looking at herself in the mirror, it looked very nice but then she frowned as she put it back down and walked away towards another rack of handbags.

He wondered why she had not taken it since it was obvious that she had liked it, it looked good on her as well, but then he looked at the price tag and understood why.  
346 bloody pounds? Even with the 40% it was still a lot. He could hardly believe it! Could the handbag sit and play dead as well?

He began to browse through the other handbags as well and found that they didn't differ in price all that much. The smaller ones were going for 105 pounds and he saw that she was currently looking at those, but the same level of interest was not there.

He sighed loudly as he walked over and discreetly grabbed the black leather bag she had obviously liked before walking over to the men's side of the store, apparently if you bought two items they would give you an additional 20% off, he could use that as an excuse. So he looked through the wallets they had on display and was actually quite impressed with the quality and material. He chose the black leather one of course before a young blonde woman was asking: "Can I help you with anything sir?"

He looked up to where Hermione was and saw that she was still elbow deep in hand bags, obviously she wasn't going to get what she wanted within her price range.

"I want to buy this wallet and this hand bag please."

The young woman's eyes lit up and she quickly took them with her." Absolutely sir, this way please."

It had actually turned out much cheaper than he had expected and when he walked over to her with his purchases in hand, she was still browsing with a saddened expression on her face. She looked up at him with a smile and then her eyes grew wide in shock when she saw the shopping bag.

"A closet shopaholic, I knew it! So what did you get?"

"Just a black travel bag, are you going to purchase anything?" He asked even though he already knew what the answer would be. "No, we can leave and go to another store now if you want."

"Please." He simply replied as they left behind the hordes of women sifting through hand bags.

They went to various other shops before they ultimately ended up at a pub style restaurant where Hermione immediately ordered a cider, he decided to go with a stout beer himself.  
"I don't see that this is exactly the fun and exciting activity I thought you were speaking of earlier." He commented.

"You don't find almost getting run over by hordes of shopping-crazed women fun and exciting?"

"Not particularly." He replied in his deep voice.

"I don't really come here for the shopping obviously; it's really just to get away from work, from home, and just do something different."

"If you want something different, just hop on a plane and go to Tuscany. You would be much better entertained than almost being killed by a frenzy of women."

She smiled as he said that, she knew that he had probably read through her books, and saw that she had marked that particular place and one of the destinations she wanted to visit.  
"I should be so fortunate and have the assets to entertain such an idea. Maybe someday I'll be able to, but for now, the frenzy of the outlet mall will have to suffice."

She didn't say much during lunch, it seemed that their outing had actually brought up some insecurities she had lingering in her mind; he could tell that she no longer desired to be there anymore. So when they were done, and after he had paid, he took her by the hand and led her towards the parking lot.

"Uhh.. where are we going?" She said as she looked down at their joined hands and then back up at him.

"We're getting out of this god forsaken place and going somewhere that's really worth while."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The man had actually forced her to give him her keys; she didn't want to fight so she simply handed them over and sat begrudgingly on the passenger side until she realized that they reached the hill tops of Cedar Park. At first she smiled but then couldn't hold in her amusement anymore and broke out in peals of laughter, holding her mid-section as she felt tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh my.. you actually.. oh.. that's brilliant.. I'm not sleeping with you! Let's just get that straight!"

He sighed loudly. "Really Granger? That's what you have to say to me after I bring you to the place you declared was your idea of a fabulous time?"

"It is, this place is breath taking, and luckily I have books in the back seat that will keep us entertained."

He couldn't help but chuckle, she would keep books everywhere she went, it reminded him of himself actually.  
"Fine, bring your books; let's go find a tree to sit under."

And that's exactly what they did the entire time that they were there. They sat in companionable silence, only commenting every now and again as they had the beautiful valley to behold before them, and read.  
It was something so simple and yet so very gratifying to Severus that he had wondered why he had never done anything like it before but then he remembered that he hardly had time for such recreation since work took up most of his efforts.

He looked up at Hermione who was currently engrossed in her book, what was it about her that held such fascination to him? He suddenly realized that he wanted to look forward to many occasions such as this with her in the future. She looked up at him and gave him a warm smile.  
"What is it? Are you tired?"

"No, but I'm hungry."

"What? But we just ate only… oh wow! I can't believe what time it is already!" She said as she looked at her watch, it was indeed 6:30pm; they had been in the park for over four hours.

"Do you want to go back to my place? I can whip us up something quick to eat." She said as she was getting up and wiping the dead grass off her jeans.

"Actually…" He said as he thought. "Do you like Japanese cuisine?"

Her eyes lit up. "I love it! What did you have in mind?"

They ended up at a place called Wasabi, in Marylebone London. It was the first time Hermione had ever been there since she wasn't particularly fond of going to the touristy part of London but she was absolutely amazed by the place. It was a simple, non-pretentious takeaway eatery. It was like a small grocery store except that everything was sushi! Individually wrapped nigiri, temaki, onigiri, and then if you wanted hot food like ramen or miso soup, you could go up to the counter and one of the two chefs would gladly prepare it for you.

Hermione opted for the rainbow sushi bento box, and ordered a side of edamame with hot green tea.

Severus ordered the Ramen, and had the fried prawn sushi rolls, and had the Masaku sake. He tried to convince Hermione to have some but she never did get the hang of drinking sake, it just wasn't for her.  
She was amused to see him maneuvering chop sticks so well; she never thought she'd see him diversifying himself in such a manner. She couldn't help but feel admiration for him as he ate calmly, watching the madness outside. Tourists, couples, people just going about their way, yet they were there, together, and she had to admit that it felt really good.

He didn't come back upstairs even though she had asked if he wanted to, suddenly the memory of the kiss came to the forefront of her mind, and she suddenly wondered if he was expecting her to kiss him again, but once he started to walk towards his car without looking back, she knew it was not so and she couldn't help but feel a slight stab of pain in her chest.

"I will be in touch Granger." He said as he walked towards his car.  
She smiled as she watched him push his shopping bag into the passenger seat of his car, she never did get to see what he had bought, but she was willing to bet it had been beautiful as well as incredibly expensive.

He drove off and she waved, watching until his car was out of sight before she went back into her building.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was Monday, she hated Mondays.

"Morning Stacy." Kelly said with a slight smirk on her face. Hermione greeted her and kept on walking towards her office. She had a meeting first thing, and she wasn't really looking forward to it.  
She walked in expecting to see a pile of work.. which was present but on top of the pile was a giant box wrapped in shimmery olive wrapping paper and tied in a forest green silk ribbon. She laughed out loud as she put down her things to further investigate the box. Of course she knew who had come from; the colors alone gave the recipient away.

She covered her mouth with her hands in disbelief when she opened the lid of the box and looked at the contents. Inside she found the very handbag that she had wanted the day she and Severus had gone shopping but she couldn't afford to buy.  
There was no note, nothing to indicate that it had in fact been given by him.  
She lifted it out of the box and immediately transferred the contents of her beat up hand bag over to the new one, smiling all the while, not necessarily at the gift itself, but more because of the thoughtfulness that went behind it; she obviously meant something to him.


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione had immediately called him up to thank him for the gift but her face frowned slightly when he didn't answer his phone. She left a message thanking him for his thoughtfulness and hung up not really knowing how to feel.

She had secretly always wanted for something like this to happen to her. As a child when she would watch him walk back and forth reciting from his ancient tomes, she would daydream that maybe one day, he would take notice of her and they would fall in love, but those were just fantasies; it would never really happen she told herself back then. Especially since he always seemed to have special hatred towards the Gryffindor house and always seemed to be taking points away and encouraging his Slytherins to show them up at every turn.

Now she could hardly believe it, but at the same time, a part of her couldn't completely trust him. The war had damaged her; a lot. For all she knew, he was just being nice and seeking her out because he found her to be a challenge. Hadn't he said that he was use to always getting what he wanted? She made it hard for him, and maybe he really was just trying to get in her pants and once she gave in, she'd never see or hear from him again.  
She didn't want to think that of him, she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and make herself believe that deep down was a man who wanted the same thing she did; a worthy companion, but she couldn't stop herself from allowing those doubts to settle in her mind.

Luckily and at the same time unluckily, she didn't really have a lot of time to ponder on these thoughts for she had been immediately flooded with work. Going over contracts, having meetings with clients and buyers. There was one night where she didn't get home until 9:00pm.

It was Thursday, a couple of days after their outing, he had never called back or sent her a message of any sort, but on that day at noon time, he suddenly showed up in her office carrying a large white paper bag and without saying a word, he placed the bag on the chair across from her desk and began removing a stack of papers she had and began taking out white Chinese take away containers and putting them on the desk in place of her work.

"Umm… what's all this?" she said as she watched him place food on her desk with a neutral expression on his face.

"Food, obviously."

"Yea but.." She threw her pen on her desk and leaned back against her chair as she continued to watch him.

"Why are you feeding me?"

"Because one needs to eat in order to survive; really Granger, is all the work they're giving you destroying your brain cells?"

"Perhaps" She said as she hastily wiped her tired eyes and grabbed one of the containers. He placed a pair of chopsticks and some napkins over on her side which she gratefully accepted and began eating.  
It wasn't long before she had eaten all of her vegetables, and shrimp in garlic and ginger sauce. She was now reaching over and grabbing yet another container, she peered inside and saw that this one had some kind of noodles, it looked to be lo mein, she could deal with that; and began eating. He had been eating some sort of spicy looking beef and just plain white rice.

"Granger, don't you take the time to feed yourself properly? You look as if you haven't had a proper meal in days."

"I haven't." She replied; not even looking up from her food as she busily ate.

"They're literally working you to the bone in his dump." He said as he picked up a piece of beef. " They do not thank you for your efforts, and pay you a disgraceful salary; why do you put up with it?"

She stopped then and looked up at him with a raised brow. "How do you know what my salary is?" But once she saw the look on his face, she continued. "I was lucky to find this job alright?! To them I had no experience and they saw it as if they were taking a chance on me because I had just recently graduated from University, and the salary wouldn't be so bad if I weren't still paying off loans, and if the cost of living wasn't so bloody expensive!"

"Quit, find a job somewhere else." He said as if it was the simplest solution.

She gave him an incredulous look. "I can't just quit!"

"Of course you can." He replied as he was digging the last of his beef out of the container with his chopsticks. "If it means leaving this to accept a better offer you can."

"But nobody has.."

"Come work for me." He interrupted, now looking directly at her. "I will pay you double your annual salary."

Her eyes were wide as she sat there looking at him, he was leaning so close now, how did that happen? She was so fixated on his stare that she hadn't noticed when Kelly had walked by, watching them as they ate together.  
Hermione knew better than to ask if he was joking. Severus Snape did not joke, and if he said something; you better believe he meant it.

"Think about it." He said as he stood up suddenly, throwing the empty containers in her trash. "Even if you decide not to take it, at least tell your superior that you've been given an offer and be sure to tell him what the offer is, they should at least attempt to keep you by making some kind of counter offer. If need be I can draw up a letter with the written offer."

She had to hand it to him, it was a genius idea. Either way she looked at it, she would be making a lot more money. She knew that if she landed that kind of news to her boss he'd at least try to find some way to keep her. She was a hard worker and went above and beyond to keep her clients happy. Her boss knew all this; it would not be easy to replace her.

She nodded as she looked up at him with a grateful smile. "I shall; thank you for the offer."

He nodded as he made his way out of the office. "Keep the rest of the food; you look as if you'll need it." He said as he looked at all the work she had before he opened the door and made a smooth exit. Even without his billowing robes, he always did have a knack for that.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

About an hour later, she received an e-mail from him with a formal offer letter. She still couldn't believe it even though the amount of the offer was physically written on there.  
It didn't take long to decide she was going to follow through with what he had said, although if her boss made some sort of reasonable counter-offer, she would of course accept that.

Needless to say that Hermione was in relatively good spirits when she was called by her boss and took a seat across from him. Until of course, he started talking.

"Stacy, I'm glad that you've come to see me, there's actually a few things I wanted to go over with you; things of a serious nature."  
Hermione blinked a few times, her initial smile vanishing as she leaned forward hid Snape's letter on her lap for the mean time.

"Stacy, in this company, we pride ourselves with giving our clients the best care and service, but perhaps it has not been made clear to you that this doesn't go past from a professional stand-point."

She blinked again, in shock with how this conversation had taken such a radical turn. "Excuse me sir?"

He sighed impatiently and looked directly at her. "You Stacy, are screwing around with Rickman; our biggest client and don't play games with me and say its business related because people have seen you; and I'm not going to have this kind of shit on my plate. You can whore around to whomever you wish so long as it's not of our clients! Are you understanding me Stacy? Are you…" but he didn't get to finish his rant for Hermione had gotten up by this point, reached over and slapped him across the face.

"How dare you!" She shouted, watching his shocked face as he lifted a hand to the cheek she had just slapped. "After all the work and sacrifice that I've given to your shit company, this is what you wanted to talk to me about? You didn't even have the courtesy to ask; you just ran with the rumors and assumed it was true?!  
When have I ever given you reason to doubt my work! My ethics! " She demanded as she hovered over him now. "I've been working my arse off, staying in late nights, and not getting a penny more, for you to come now with this shit?! You know what?" She now crumbled Snapes letter in anger and threw it in his face. "You can stick your precious company up your arse; I'm done!"

And she turned around and walked out of his office, coming face to face with Kelly who had obviously been listening to what had been going on.

"Oh!" She said in shock. "S… Stacy! Everything all right?"

Hermione folded her arms in front of her and gave her a fake smile although her eyes were flaming. "Thanks for making up rumors and stabbing me in the back Kelly, just remember though; 'Karma's a bitch' and you're going to get yours."  
She then gave Kelly a warm smile before picking up the designer bag Severus had given her as a gift from her office, grabbing her essentials and storming out of there for good.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"How did you know?" Was the first thing Hermione asked once she got home and called him. He sighed and replied in his deep silky voice. "Does it really matter? "

"Not really." She replied. "But now I'm jobless."

"Of course you're not silly girl; that letter was a legitimate offer."

She exhaled loudly; she knew she had no choice. "When do I start?"

"Officially, on Monday, but I gather you need to become acquainted with the pharmaceutical world so this weekend, we shall travel to Italy where my company's headquarters are based."

"Ita… what?! I don't recall seeing anything in your documents before about Italy!"

"It was a recent.. acquisition." He simply replied. "It is necessary for me to go there in any case; so, do you accept?"

This was madness, everything was happening too fast and Hermione hadn't fully grasped what she was getting into, but then again she couldn't deny that apart from everything being thrilling and exciting; she had always wanted to go to Italy, even if it was just business related. She would have to meditate later about how this would all come to affect her current feelings towards everything that was happening, in particular with regards to Severus.

"I do." She said after several long moments of silence.

"Excellent; I will notify you with the trip details later today. Goodbye for now Granger." And he hung up.

Hermione sighed and threw herself on her small couch, what had she just gotten herself into?

**Things will take an interesting turn during the trip, so stay tuned; and leave me your thoughts :-)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Just a note that I might not update for a while as I will be going on vacation, but please don't forget to review! It'll motivate me to continue once I get back!**

* * *

It wasn't exactly Tuscany like she would've wanted but she understood from having seen other client's businesses that the real estate there was extremely expensive whereas in Bari, it was far less expensive but still a relatively populated city where much business was conducted thus, it was where his new pharmaceutical headquarters building was located.

It was a very humble looking building, only two floors, not far from the beautiful oceans, once they went inside, she was quite impressed.  
The floors were black marble and it was furnished with dark colors of course but very modern and tasteful. At the reception desk there was a security guard who upon seeing them immediately got up out of his chair and came around. The man did look intimidating in his 6'4" stature, but it was interesting to note that Severus could probably in fact take him out despite that, it made her stomach summersault.

"Good Afternoon Mr. Rickman."

"Good afternoon" both he and Hermione replied.  
"Ben, make sure that nobody is to disturb us, I'm going to show our newest employee around."

The security guard nodded as his instructions. "Absolutely sir."

Hermione had underestimated how big the building actually was on the inside, most of it being labs that already a few scientists were occupying. They could see the many vials of medicine, microscopes, other machinery that she wasn't all that familiar with, a room filled with nothing but books and medical manuscripts, on the corner there were several computers.  
After they had seen most of the first floor, he directed her towards the second floor and entered a room that she guessed was his office since it was quite spacious and again resembling Slytherin décor. In that very same office was a round table on the right hand side with five chairs, Hermione couldn't help but ask: "Are we expecting anyone?"

"Yes." He replied as sat down on his desk. "A couple members from my board will be here. We're going to have a short meeting but I would like for you to stay and listen in on what is going to be said, take notes if you like."

"Does it have to do with financials?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment before he replied: "Yes, it will."  
He then picked up the phone, dialed and almost immediately began speaking.

"Ben if they're down in the lobby waiting, do tell them they can come up now." He hung up and looked at her with a small smirk playing at his lips. "You will now see for yourself the kind of people I have to deal with on a daily basis."

Hermione lifted a brow, and soon enough they could hear voices and then people walking into his office.  
In three long strides, Severus was there shaking their hands and making introductions.

"All, I would like for you to meet my new personal financial analyst, Stacy Jenkins. She will be present during the meeting today, let's try to be civil shall we?"  
Hermione took the opportunity to have a good look at them, and immediately noticed that there was a lady there, and if she was not mistaken; it was the same lady she had seen him with the last day she had spied on him outside of the bookstore.  
The woman was indeed, sex on heels, but now she could see certain details that she had not been able to before.

She wore a blood red skirt suit that in her opinion was far too short to be business appropriate, showing off her perfect long legs. Her raven black hair was like silk, while her face was alright, her features were still striking with all the makeup she wore, and accessories. She seemed a lot older than Hermione too, probably closer to Severus' age, she suddenly felt her heart at her throat, especially since said woman was now looking at her, narrowing her eyes as she took her in, but her stare was interrupted by Severus.

"Stacy; I want to introduce you to a couple of my business associates. The vice president of marketing Mr. David Gourd, My lead medical scientist Dr. Ramesh Vahaal, and the vice president of research, Ms. Sheila Abbott."

All of them shook hands with her, but she noticed that Sheila in particular gave her a long, serious stare.  
"Always a pleasure to meet one of Alan's _new _employee's; my you are a pretty thing… " She had said, putting emphasis on "new." What exactly did that mean? Hermione wondered.

"Yes well." Severus began in a bored manner. "Shall we?" He asked as he motioned towards the round table.  
She had understood what he had meant for it wasn't even ten minutes into the meeting and already everyone seemed to be arguing. Dr. Vahaal in particular who was passionately trying to dispute with Gourd.  
"We cannot lower the standards of our product, simply because it doesn't fall into the forecast of your budget Mr. Gourd."

"I'm just trying to work with what Sheila's given me, this is the best we can do!" Gourd countered and then gave Sheila a menacing stare. "Maybe if our dear vice president of research quit whoring around and actually did some work, we'd have better options that what we're currently dealing with at present!"

"Gourd! Why don't you just shut the f…" Sheila started to reply before Severus barked out: "That's quite enough thank you!"

Meanwhile, Hermione's eyes were wide. They were no better than the students Severus use to teach when he was a professor, well.. maybe they were because these people were supposed to be professionals, it was a wonder that Severus' company was so successful if these were indeed the individuals in the lead, but then she saw him and was in awe of the way he had suddenly taken over the meeting.

"Dr. Vahaal, do not lower the standards of our product; I'm pleased that you're passionately standing behind quality and not quantity. Sheila, what you've brought today, belongs here."  
He grabbed the sheets that had been in front of her and threw them in the trash. "Keep this up and you'll find yourself replaced, do I make myself clear?"  
Hermione looked at her wide-eyed not being able to help herself in feeling sorry for the woman, especially when she swallowed hard in shame and nodded while not even making eye contact with him.

The meeting continued on for about twenty minutes and by this time is was basically just Dr. Vahaal and Gourd going back and forth while Severus every now and then stepped in to make his final decisions. At one point she caught Sheila glaring at her, but Hermione remained emotionless. She had been through a war, had fought, fled, and forced her way through difficulties people couldn't even begin to imagine so it was needless to say that Hermione was in no way intimidated by her, and demonstrated so by lifting her chin and looking right back her defiantly, not knowing that Severus was watching their interplay discreetly.

"Alright Gourd." Severus announced at the end of the meeting. "I want you to send your current forecast to Stacy once she gets set up in our offices back home. Sheila, no partying in Pomodoro beach tonight sweetheart, get your arse moving on finding better suppliers, are you understanding me?"  
She nodded, glancing over at Hermione before she got up and left without another word.

They got up and Dr. Vahaal immediately went to talk to Severus in private for they had walked over to the other side of the room.

Gourd however glanced over at Hermione before offering a smile. "I hope you're not too disappointed with the way the pharmaceutical world works now."

She smiled in turn. "Mr. Gourd, I believe business is business everywhere you go, the place where I worked at before was actually not that much different if I'm completely honest."

"I'm sorry to hear that, well you can at least count me not being like that towards you Miss Jenkins."

"Oh, its Stacy, please."

He smiled and chuckled. "Then you must call me David." She smiled, noting that he was actually quite attractive. He had blonde hair, green eyes, and just a pleasant manner about him that made him seem approachable. He also seemed to be closer to her age.

"Are you quite done Mr. Gourd?" Came a looming voice, and suddenly Hermione realized that Severus was amongst them again. It was amazing that he still had such an amazing ability to just suddenly sneak up everywhere even without magic.

"I.. yes.. Mr. Rickman, I was just getting better acquainted with Miss Jenkins.. and I uh.. was actually wondering if maybe later today.."

"Later today, Miss Jenkins will be with me taking care of some other business that has to be tended to, you understand don't you Mr. Gourd?"

"But of course." He began, his cheeks now flushing red. "It was a pleasure Stacy."

"Likewise David." She replied and she watched as he hastily left. She waited to make sure that he was out of earshot before she turned around and scowled at Snape.  
"That was… Incredibly rude of you. He was just trying to be nice."

He simply raised a brow before turning around. "Trying to get in your pants is more like it."

"That's ridiculous!" She said with obvious distaste.

"Is it? You don't think I'm aware of what my own business associates do during their spare time?"

"What they do is irrelevant, he was just conversing."

"I know you're not that blind Hermione, the man was practically asking you out!" He ground out, how had he gotten so close? He was just mere inches away from her, looming down, and he was angry! She could see him visibly shaking, and yet it was incredibly attractive and she could feel desire spread throughout her entire being, she looked up at him and saw that his frustration had turned into confusion so she backed away and at her doing this, his features froze and he hung his head slightly having caught himself.

"Sorry…" He began "But I know what kind of person he is… he.."

"Let's just forget it ok?" She said as she awkwardly picked up her bag, they desperately needed to change the subject. "I'm really hungry, I'm sure you could hear my stomach during the meeting."  
"I did not, but I agree; I am hungry as well."

"So.." She began. "You've obviously been here before, what's good to eat around here?"

At that he smirked, turning off the lights of his office before leading her back out the hall way towards the staircase.  
"That would depend; do you wish to stay here in Bari, maybe travel down to Pomodoro Beach? Or would you prefer to take a train that will lead us into Tuscany?"

Her eyes lit up and she suddenly didn't even know what to say. She opened her mouth to begin to speak but then shut it again.

"I take it by your reaction that you prefer the latter. Very well, I shall make the proper arrangements." He walked ahead of her with newfound purpose, a smirk playing at his lips as he looked over at Ben.

"Ben, we'll be leaving now, if anyone needs to reach me I can be contacted via e-mail, but absolutely no phone calls."

Ben nodded. "Yes sir, good day to you." He continued to watch as they walked away from the building once they were clear out of sight, Ben picked up the phone and quickly dialed before shortly speaking.

"Yeah, they just left together. I overheard them, something about going to Tuscany, it won't be hard to track him down. He'll probably book a hotel room with his credit card, and once the charge goes through I'll notify you where he's at."


	9. Chapter 9

The trip to Tuscany had been everything she had ever dreamed and more; at least it was in the beginning.

The train had a private closed off section where they were fed blini's with caviar; shrimps wrapped in bacon, and perfectly chilled champagne. When they finally arrived, a driver was waiting for them and he took their bags to a bed and breakfast while they browsed the open air shopping plaza, took a tour in Peducci's winery, and then ended the evening at the bed and breakfast they were staying at by eating a home-cooked meal prepared by the host herself. Each course paired off with a different, full glass of wine.

They were now sitting outside on a bench that was facing the small vineyard and she could feel that all the wine she had consumed was taking its toll on her body as she turned to look at Severus who didn't even allow her the chance to speak before his lips had descended on hers. Their tongues danced to a tune of their own as his hands slowly worked their way down her back all the while pressing her against him. She swore that she had heard him groan her name, causing her stomach to flip deliciously, she could feel the desire course through her veins, and her mind practically screamed: "More!"  
It was like magic, no; it was better than that, it was Severus Snape in all his magnificent glory and she wanted all of it to encompass her being, and yet when she felt him moving her on his lap, her eyes snapped open of their own accord, she stopped all movement. He felt her tense and looked up at her with alarm in his features. "Hermione?" He asked.

"I think I need to head to my room now." She said as she swiftly removed herself from him even though her body protested against it.

"Please, don't go." He said as he tried to retrieve her by gently taking hold of her hand. She was so very tempted to give in to her urges but the knowledge of having to deal with the repercussion outweighed what she was feeling now. She knew they had to talk about it, they couldn't keep up... Whatever it was they were avoiding.

"What are we Severus?"

He sighed and looked down towards his feet, she knew he didn't want to talk about it, but they had to.  
"We spend all this time together, we act like a legitimate couple but if someone were to walk up to me and ask what we are, I wouldn't know what to answer, don't you think there's something wrong with that?"

"Hermione, I don't think we should label what we share, it is nobody's business but our own what we are."

"Fine." She said as she folded her arms in front of her. "Then what are we? Just so that I'm clear."

"You are my financial advisor." He began, but when she saw how her face was beginning to harden he continued: "And.. my.. damn it I.. You have become a great friend to me, and I care about you, I trust you." He finalized as if that had made everything better, but the truth is that it sounded lame even him. He was so overcome with fear over the idea of finally establishing himself with someone else after years of always being alone that it scared him more than being in a room full of dementors.

Hermione in turn nodded as she unfolded her arms.  
"I guess we see things differently then. I agree with everything you just said but I guess I saw even more than what you apparently do. I'm flattered that you trust me enough to consider me a great friend but if that's all you wish us to be then the random kissing, the gift giving and touching need to stop, you can't play with my feelings like this."

All Severus Snape could do was look at her even though deep inside he was kicking himself to hell and back because after all the careful planning, waiting, and pursuing, he finally had her where he wanted her and yet all of the sudden he found himself unwilling to commit; something was indeed very wrong with him. He felt himself scowl at himself, but Hermione understood it to be as a result of what she had said.  
She suddenly realized that taking on this job might've not been the best idea after all, just as she had feared.

"I need to go back to my room now." She said and then she was gone, Severus still unable to say anything to her as he watched her leave.

The following morning he got up and was getting ready to head down for checkout, he passed by her room and knocked, but she did not answer. He immediately went into the lobby to find that she was sitting there waiting for him, she smiled up at him.. a forced smile, he could tell.

They bid their good mornings and they talked about the flight back home but not a word was mentioned about the previous night. He could feel that she had begun building a wall against him, and the fact was that he couldn't blame her, he would've done the same if not something worse. He was surprised she hadn't started yelling at him or accusing him for having been led on to something he wasn't ready for. It was frustrating especially to himself to think that an old man like him would be in possession of such a powerful company, wealth, anything he materially wanted and yet when the moment of truth came, he had faltered and he still didn't know why he allowed it to happen even though he knew without question that he would never find anyone like Hermione,

After they got back, she was in full work mode, she was fast, efficient, but once the end of the day came, she would pick up her things and leave immediately, turning down his requests for dinner, going out, or anything else. It bothered him, not so much that he knew he'd miss out on being happy; but he missed her as a friend and she was someone who could intellectually stimulate him as well as physically. He wanted to tell her these things but he was afraid of what it meant, afraid that after they were officially involved she would not find him to be what she expected and then leave him; he couldn't bear the thought of it.

Then it happened one day. He was about ready to head out to lunch, contemplating a strategy to get Hermione to go with him on some business pretense when there was a knock on his door and then his assistant came in with one of those trashy gossip newsletters in her hand.

"Sir, I believe you need to see this."

She dropped it on his desk and there on the right hand side was a picture of himself and Hermione passionately kissing outside the vineyards during their stay in Tuscany, it was under the heading: **"Business Giants and their secret women."  
**He sighed loudly and covered his face as he mumbled: "Leave me" to his assistant.

She did as instructed and a few seconds later Hermione barged into his office, looking like she was about to tear him a new one. She was about to slam the article in front of him but she stopped when she saw that he already had a copy.

"Oh! I see you already know. What the hell is all this about? Is this why you wanted us to go to Tuscany?! Maybe you had this planned from the start!"

"Don't be ignorant Hermione; why would I purposely fabricate garbage such as this?"

"To look good."

"You really believe that this.." He picked up the paper as if it were an infectious disease. "makes me look good?"

She shook her head. "I don't know anymore. I don't know what's real or what to believe anymore. All I know is that now I'm going to be known everywhere I go as your secret woman, something to be hidden and ashamed of."

"That is not true!" He countered.

"Really?" She said as she quirked a brow. "That's why after all we've been through, after all you said to me, all you want is for us to be 'good friends'" She lifted her fingers to give emphasis on the last two words.

"I guess I'm not good enough for the pharmaceutical giant."

He tried to grab her and pull her towards him but she swiftly escaped him.

"Don't touch me! Don't talk to me, just keep away from me!" She shouted as she stormed off from his office, leaving him looking after her, his mind racing and trying to process everything that had just happened.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was Monday morning. Severus had tried on various occasions to get a hold of Hermione during the weekend but she didn't answer her phone and he was unsure if showing up at her place was a wise decision given their last dispute. An hour had passed since she was supposed to have come in and he was becoming restless. He buzzed his assistant for the fourth time. "Is she here yet?"

"No sir; I WILL buzz YOU when she does walk in."

"You better!" He answered with all authority.

After three hours had passed, he received an e-mail from her, and his heart leapt to his throat when he saw the subject line: **"Formal Notice Of Resignation."**

Without even thinking, he quickly double clicked on the e-mail and sped read through it the first time and then read it word for word the following six times.

"_Mr. Rickman,__  
__ Due to recent personal circumstances I find I am unable to continue to serve as an employee to your company. I thank you for the opportunity you have bestowed upon me during the short time I was in your employment, and I sincerely wish you the best in all your future endeavors._

_Regards,_

_Stacy Jenkins_"

This was not happening, it couldn't be happening. After he finally got a hold of himself, he picked up the phone and called her finding that it immediately directed him to a recording stating that the number was no longer in service. It took five seconds for him to slam the phone back on the receiver, pick up his keys and head out the door, running past a few business associates he was supposed to be having a meeting with.

The tires screeched as he drove out of the parking lot and on to the streets where he almost got into an accident twice before finally arriving outside of the familiar building. He parked and ran across the street but came to a halt when he saw a sign hanging on the entrance.  
"Single Flat For Rent" He slammed the door open and hurriedly climbed two stairs at a time when he faced what he already knew, outside of her door they placed a small sticker that read:  
"Vacant" She was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

Severus Snape didn't return to work that day.

He started looking for Hermione immediately by asking practically everyone in her building if they knew her or where she had gone, an older woman looked at him with pity and said: "I know what it is to lose someone, here; this is the landlord's number, ring him up and maybe he'll be able to help you."

He did so immediately only to find out that she had told the land lord she had had an emergency and needed to leave right away. She had paid the remainder of what she owed in accordance to her lease and left that very same day.

"She rented some sort of truck.. you know them small moving trucks with a hitch for the car where you pay twenty pounds a day plus mileage. She never said where she was going." He had been informed, but that was a huge step in the right direction for there was only one company around he knew had that kind of moving offer so he drove to the rental service office with all the authority he could muster and approached a young man behind the counter.

"Good Afternoon Sir, would you like to rent a moving truck today?"

Severus lifted a brow. "No, but I have come to inquire about someone who has, as early as Yesterday, you do keep records of such information, do you not?"  
The young man already began shaking his head. "I cannot disclose that kind of information to you sir."

Severus dug into his pockets and brought out a couple of bills and passed it over to him discreetly. The young man eyed the money and then slid it over to his pockets. "But for you sir I can make an exception, what is the person's name?" He said with a sudden smile on his face.

"Look under Stacy Jenkins."

He typed it in and nodded. "Yes, she rented a truck yesterday at 6:00am and then dropped it off ten hours later at Forest Heath- Suffolk, so I would reckon she must be residing there now."

Severus sighed at the news. So she had moved into the country... The truth was that he couldn't blame her; she probably just wanted to get away from everything, especially him. He contemplated the idea that maybe staying away was probably for the best. He wouldn't have to commit to her and could just go back to life as he knew it before.

The office was empty when he came back into the building; the only one's present were the security guards.  
He went into his office and picked up his computer and turned off the lights, slowly walking past her office, her name plate still there for him to see, to remind him of what he had let slip through his fingers and allowing him to understand that he simply could not let this go. What he had feared the most had happened and it had been entirely his fault, he had to face up to it now and only hope that she would find it in her heart to forgive him for what he had done, for having her go through such unnecessary turmoil.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Everything was unloaded and now Hermione had the task to unpack everything. She had gotten a great deal on a small cottage for almost half of what she paid in the tiny flat she lived in before... granted it was out in the middle of nowhere, but it had spectacular views of the countryside, and there wasn't the noise of cars and people, all she could hear was the chirping of birds, and soft wisps of the wind as it blew her hair; it was wonderful.  
The next day she set about in her car, it took approximately 12 minutes to get into the small town where there were a lot of food markets, wine shops and ... A smile formed on her lips when she saw a book store on the corner. She parked and quickly made her way there first. It was nowhere near as extravagant as the one's in the city, but it had a very cozy feel to it. She had been browsing the new release section when a sweet older woman approached her. "Can I help you find anything?" She smiled in turn, it felt good to smile, it felt like she hadn't done so in forever.

"Umm.. actually, do you know if the store is currently hiring? I'm new in town and am seeking employment."

"What is your background and experience?" The older woman asked very politely.

"I have a degree in accounting, and while I was in college I worked at the campus library."

The older woman's eyes lit up. "Well my dear, you happen to be speaking to the owner of the book store, my name is Elizabeth." She brought her hand out and Hermione gladly shook it. "Very nice to meet you Elizabeth, my name is Stacy."

"Nice to meet you as well Stacy, but I will tell you right now that I in no way would be able to pay you an accountant's salary, would you still be interested in an interview Tomorrow and maybe we can work something out?"

Hermione shook her head. "Name a time and I will be here."

"Excellent! Please come by at 8:30.. no.. better make it 8:00a.m. so we're not interrupted by customers."

Hermione walked out the store with a wide grin on her face, why hadn't she moved out into the country sooner? What was with the unreasonable belief that the city was where it was at when the country was just as great if not better?

She spent the rest of the morning stopping by other shops and picked up fresh produce and a beautiful cut of meat at the butchers to make dinner and when she got back to her cottage, she opened up the windows so that the stream of sunshine could flow in and she could view the trees and the hills as the cool breeze entered the kitchen, it was wonderful, just what she needed to help her mend her broken heart.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The following day she made her way over to the bookstore ten minutes earlier than she was supposed to arrive. The older woman allowed her to come inside and immediately she was hit with the welcoming fragrance of freshly brewed coffee. "Would you like a cup?" She asked as she saw Hermione taking a deep breath.

"Oh yes please!"

After she had gotten her coffee, they stepped into the back offices of the bookstore where one glance at the computer made her realize that Elizabeth was in desperate need of an upgrade.  
They went over her resume, Elizabeth told her what was to be expected of her, she'd have to work every other weekend which sounded fair to Hermione, and she was surprised to find that the salary she was offered would actually be more than enough to cover her rent, bills and still have enough left over for savings or recreational purposes.

"So.." Elizabeth said as she looked her right in the eye. "I believe after everything I've seen that you are actually overqualified for the job, I would more than gladly extend it to you but the question is, would you accept it?"  
Hermione smiled in turned and offered her hand to her. "I absolutely do, when do I start?"

Hermione made her way out of the bookstore and was heading towards the center of the plaza to pick up some flowers on the way home. She hadn't been in Forest Heath for a week and already she had gotten a place to live and a job. She was so engrossed her thoughts over what had just happened that she didn't notice a man who had gotten up off a bench as soon as she had exited the bookstore. He kept a distance of about twelve feet between them, stopping inside of a wine shop just as she had turned a corner to buy some flowers. He waited until she was done and had started to walk off again before he exited the shop and continued to follow her.

Hermione had passed by a bicycle shop and stopped there as well to inquire what the prices were. The road from her cottage to the bookstore was so lovely that she was seriously contemplating purchasing the bicycle to save on gas money as well as enjoy the country views while exercising.

She was looking at one in particular, it was a beautiful, shiny red with a brown basket in the front, it was great for carrying any groceries or her work bag, but the price tag on it wasn't so great so she continued to browse, taking notes of the prices so she could go back home and calculate which one would better fit her needs and budget.

She spent the rest of the day unpacking her boxes and cleaning around the cottage, she still had three more days before she officially started her first day of work so she decided she needed to make the most of her remaining free days.

She was removing items from yet another box and then faltered when she held the hand bag that Severus had gotten for her. She had contemplated leaving it behind in her old flat but decided against it, and now as she held it in her hands, the memories of what had happened began to engulf her mind.

She should've thrown it out in the trash but instead she stuck it in the back of the closet, leaving it there until she felt she would be ready to finally dispose of it. The purse would serve as a reminder to her of how foolish she had been, and how to never again allow herself to become involved with anyone; she was destined to be alone.

The following day she had gone out for a walk on the trail near the hills. It led to a beautiful lake that eventually connected to a family owned farm. They had signs posted all over the road advertising fresh milk, eggs, butter and cheese. She made a detour towards that direction where a young man about her age carrying a wheel barrow approached her. He had broad shoulders that hinted he worked hard around the farm, blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes that twinkled as he smiled at her.

"Mornin' Miss, can I help you with anything?"

She smiled in turn. "I saw the advertisements for fresh milk, eggs, butter and cheese and was curious about the prices."

"Oh well that." He said as he took off his straw hat and allowed his hair to fall around his shoulders, he was indeed extremely handsome, she noted.  
"Eggs are a pound a dozen, bottle of milk or butter is two pounds and the cheese is three, can I interest you to anything?"

"Well, I actually didn't bring any money with me, you see; I just moved here a few days ago and was walking down this trail that led me here, but I do plan to come back and make some purchases now that I know this farm is here."

He smiled at her in turn and motioned with his hand as if saying: 'wait a moment' He ran into the farm house and moments later came back out with a bottle of milk and a small white bundle. "This cheese here is my mom's recipe, best cheese in all of Suffolk, and a bottle of milk as a welcome to the neighborhood; I really do hope we have the pleasure of seeing you here often, and your name is?"

She blushed as she took the items he held out for her. "My name's Stacy, and yours?"

"I'm Stephan, it is a pleasure to have met you Stacy, please pay us a visit again." He said as his eyes twinkled in the sunlight. His strong, muscular arms took hold of the heavy wheel barrel as he carried it off, waving to her again before he went into the barn.  
She smiled to herself as she walked off; she had noticed that he hadn't been wearing a wedding band on his finger. _Shame on you Hermione! Here you just recently had your heart handed to you and promised you'd never get involved with anyone again and already you're checking a cute guy out!_

Then her thoughts turned to Severus again and her face hardened. He would never give up all of his luxury for something as plain as this sort of lifestyle, and what did it matter anyway? He had probably already forgotten about her. She sighed as she made her way back to her cottage, but then preoccupied herself with what she was going to cook later. The country had certainly helped liven her appetite and who could resist having such fresh produce and ingredients so readily available, in the city almost everything sold came from cans or frozen packages, this was the real deal for in her hand was cheese that had been made that very morning. Yes, she had made the right decision, so far Forest Heath had exceeded her expectations, she just needed to give herself time to forget about her past.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Hermione woke up bright and early for her first day of work.  
After a bowl of porridge and her breakfast tea, she gathered her thin briefcase and made her way to the bookstore. It felt good not to have to wear the usual business suits, hosiery, and heels. Elizabeth had informed her that the dress code was business casual so she opted to wear a long sleeve, button up shirt and a white pair of slacks with comfortable ivory flats. Her soft curls cascaded past her shoulders as she had placed a pin to hold the right side in place.

Her first day of work had pretty much been just an orientation of the accounting system Elizabeth had been using, Hermione made a mental note to suggest she upgrade to something more efficient once she had established herself. The accounting was to be done only three days a week or as needed and the rest of the time was dedicated to ordering books, stocking and helping out customers. A drastic change from having to run from meeting to meeting, create reports, and deal with people who were of the mindset that they could buy and sell you; Hermione realized that she was really going to love her new life.

"So? How are you enjoying Forest Heath so far Stacy?" Elizabeth asked during their lunch break.

"I honestly love it here so far; I only regret not having made this change sooner in my life but.. you know how it is."

Elizabeth nodded. "but you're here now, and that's the important part; I'm glad that you're here to help me now."

"Say, you know that bike shop just down the plaza? Do you know if they're the only one's in town who sell bicycles?"

"Oh my dear; I'm afraid that they are unless you're willing to drive thirty miles to Greenfield, and they cost about the same so it would probably turn out to be more expensive when you consider the cost of gas."

"Good to know, it seems to be an efficient way of getting around here, so I plan to invest in one soon."

"Absolutely!" Elizabeth chimed. "I ride one to work myself, you should too!"

Hermione smiled brightly. "Well I guess that settles it then; I'm going to get a new bicycle."

Hermione had left the store later than usual that evening since a new shipment of books arrived that afternoon and she had been busy restocking while Elizabeth took care of the customers, one of them had a tantalizing picture of stewed beef over white rice on the cover so now of course Hermione had to head over to the butcher and get some beef to cook for dinner, she passed by the bicycle shop in the process and realized the red bike she had admired from before was no longer there. Internally she sighed even though realistically she knew she wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway.  
After acquiring her beef, she drove back to her cottage feeling content with herself until she drove up and saw what was waiting for her just outside. She parked and immediately got out of her car, in complete awe of what was perched just outside her door. It was the red bicycle with a large red bow tied to the front of the basket. Her mind immediately went to Elizabeth. It had to have been her, who else could it have been?

It was indeed a generous gift though, she wasn't sure whether she should accept it or not so for the time being, she ushered the bike inside of the house, willing herself not to ride it until she spoke to her about it the following morning.

As she prepared her dinner she couldn't help but look over at the bike, it was as if it was calling her: "Ride me, take me out for a spin, what could it hurt?" She finally gave in, making sure that her beef was left at a low simmer, she quickly changed into capri pants and a pink top, and carefully took the bow off the basket and took it outside for a test run, but what started as just a quick ride out back turned to her heading down the trail full speed and eventually over to the farm where she saw Stephan handing an older man a crate of eggs. He looked up when he saw her approaching.

"Well, I didn't think I'd see you this soon Miss Stacy; that is a fine bicycle by the way."

"Thanks!" She said with a triumphant smile. "I guess since I came all this way I might as well buy some eggs to make breakfast tomorrow morning."

"One dozen eggs coming right up!" He said as he turned and ran into the barn, he came back out with the eggs and she handed him the money.

"So, how do you find Forest Heath so far?"

"I love it here!" Hermione said enthusiastically as she placed her eggs in the basket. "I ... I honestly can't remember being this happy before."  
Stephan blinked at the look on her face, it was obvious to him she had come from a troubled past.

"Say, have you been over to the movie theatre in the plaza? They have great matinee specials Tuesday and Thursday nights."

She could feel herself blushing as she looked at the ground. "I umm.. I haven't been to a movie in years."

"What?!" Stephan ground out.. "Oh no, we need to change that. How bout I take you? Next Tuesday at 7:00pm."

She could feel her cheeks so warm that she hardly knew what to do with herself. "I... I don't know.."

"Aww its ok. Listen, there is no pressure ok. I usually go to the theatre with my brother Sam anyway so if you feel more comfortable it being us three, we can arrange it that way as well."

She did feel better knowing there would be someone else, it felt a lot less like a date and more like an outing with new friends so she felt herself nodding in agreement.

"Ok, I'll come here and we'll head out together?"

"That'll be perfect Stacy, I look forward to it. Be careful riding along the path with those eggs there."

"Thanks; I will." She yelled as she rode away. He stood there watching until she disappeared from sight and was about ready to head back inside for dinner when a shiny black car drove up the path. Stephan blinked when he saw the make of the car, he didn't know anyone around town who drove a Bentley, then the driver's window lowered and he ducked his head to look at the driver.

"Hi, are you lost? Need some help?" He swallowed hard when he saw the driver of the car give him a murderous glare with eyes that seemed darker than Onyx, Suddenly the glare turned into a small upturn of the lips even though the eyes were still staring daggers at him.

"Young lad; I saw a sign up the road that says you sell milk; would you still sell me a bottle? I know it's late in the day."

"Oh, sure; just a moment."

The young man turned and ran into the house, Severus watching all the while and frowning at the recent turn of events. This slip of a boy would not interfere with his plans and he would make sure of it.


	11. Chapter 11

The following day Hermione went to work on her new bike.

She greeted Elizabeth warmly and even went as far as embracing her, causing her to gasp in surprise. "Oh my! What's all this for?" She exclaimed after Hermione let her go and smiled up at her.

"I can't thank you enough for the new bicycle; but it really is too much! You have to at least allow me to pay you some of it back!"

But Elizabeth in turn simply blinked in confusion and seemed almost afraid to ask. "Stacy… I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come now! The red bicycle left in front of my cottage! You were the only one I spoke to regarding bicycles."

"Stacy…. I really hate to damper your spirits but..I didn't get you a bicycle."

Hermione's eyes widened and her complexion became deadly pale.

"Are you…. You sure?"

"Stacy… I think I would've remembered buying a bicycle. You sure I was the only one you spoke to regarding that? Maybe it's someone who's taking a liking to you. Perhaps…. A man?" She said with a coy smile, but that only brought Goosebumps to Hermione. There was no way it could've been from… How would he have found out where she was living now?  
But the more she thought about it throughout the day, the higher the possibility became. It certainly wasn't Stephan or he would've said something to her about it when she had bought the eggs, so it could only mean that…

Hermione decided to leave the bookstore during her lunch break that day. She walked swiftly past the small shops and eateries with only one objective in mind: Getting to the bicycle shop.

Once she neared the store, her smile came into place as she looked up at the shopkeeper. "Good afternoon sir!" She said almost too cheerfully. The older man looked at her admiringly in turn. "G'day madam, how can I help a lovely lady such as yourself?"

"You know.." She began almost too eagerly. "There was a really beautiful shiny, red bicycle outside that I really wanted to purchase, but I come by and see it's not there, don't tell me that.."

He nodded. "Sorry madam, I sold that bike two days ago."

"I bet the young woman will really enjoy it." Hermione added, and looked at the shopkeeper hopefully.

"uhhh. Don't know about that since it was a man who bought it. Came in with his suit and tie he did, didn't even test it or ask questions as people usually do on a bike that price, no; he just paid, asked for me to add a gift bow, and carried it off. Fastest sale I ever made actually." Then he looked at her and smirked. "But I can certainly show you a few that are just as beautiful and efficient for someone like you my lovely lady."

Her heart was pounding in her chest at the news, it had to be him, he had found her and now he was leaving her random gifts, but why?

"Uhh.. you know, I really don't have time since that was the one I had in mind. I'll come back another day since I work near here."

He nodded. "Anytime, just stop by and I'll be glad to help you out."

The rest of the day was like a blur. She did the accounting, restocked the non-fiction shelves and then just as she was heading outside to where she kept her bike, he was there standing beside it.

His hair blowing in the wind, his arms crossed over his chest in his expensive suit, and wearing shades to complete the bad-ass corporate giant look.  
She should've been angry, upset at how he had probably manipulated, sneaked and cheated his way to finding out where she was residing now. Buying her expensive gifts no doubt with the hope that he could buy her forgiveness, and yet she found that what she felt was extreme sadness, and damn it all to hell; she even felt a desire to go up and embrace him, to feel him in her arms again, but she wouldn't give in to that. He had shamelessly allowed the world to think she was some random mistress, something cheap and unworthy, and she wasn't going to tolerate that, not even from him.

"What do you want from me?" She asked in a very serious tone.

"I want to talk Hermione."

"It's a bit late for that." She said as she was about to side step him and walk back home. If the gift had been from him, than he could just take the bike and shove it where the sun doesn't shine cause she wasn't taking anything from him anymore.

"I've come all the way from London, to this godforsaken place; I think you at least owe me the courtesy of a conversation."

"Let's get something straight Severus; I don't owe you a damn thing! I didn't ask for you to come find me, on the contrary; I went above and beyond to leave so that nobody would know where to find me, and as for you finding this place to be 'godforsaken' sounds like a personal problem because I find that this place is a godsend and I don't intend to leave Forest Heath anytime soon. So why don't you do us both a favor, hop into your luxury car, and drive back to London where you belong and forget about me."

"I can't do that." He said as he began walking after her. "Hermione I … Will you please stop walking for a minute?!"

"Nope.." She said as she walked faster.

"Wretched woman! Don't you see that I care about you?"

"Umm hmm.. That's why you flew me to Tuscany, showed me the most romantic time of my life and then ended the evening by telling me that we were just friends with benefits, and then when the press wrote those horrible things, you still didn't do anything about it. You'll forgive me if I don't agree with your methods of caring."

"You have a right to be angry with me, and I don't …" He was gasping for breath as he tried to match her pace, it was obvious to her he wasn't use to fresh air and exercise. She decided that despite the anger and hurt she felt towards him right now that this was important though and began to slow her pace.

"I was a fool.. I.." He finally swerved over to where she was and quickly held her hands at her sides so that she could focus her stare at him.

"I don't care if I sound like a first year hufflepuff right now but you need to know that I have, for a very long time, been trying to work my way to telling you I want you to be mine, and when the moment presented itself in Tuscany I froze and I crawled back into my shell because I didn't know how to handle the situation. Hermione, I have been alone for a very, very long time. I have never contemplated the idea of finding someone that I could see myself spending the rest of my life with but with you.. things are different Hermione. When I came to the realization that I felt so strongly about you I panicked, and mostly because I didn't think I could bear it if you decided to turn me down, or if you would initially accept me but then end up leaving me down the road."

He sighed as he closed his eyes. "And yet.. here we are. I get an e-mail with your resignation and not ten minutes later when I arrive to your flat I find that you had picked up and left. You have no idea how that has tortured me, how this current situation tortures me. Won't you please consider coming back to London? I promise you that things will be different Hermione."

She sighed deeply at his words and stayed silent for a moment looking off to the sides of the road as if thinking and then she looked up at him; at least she no longer seemed angry or pained.

"I think it's a real shame that all of this had to happen for you open up to me this way, and what worries me Severus is that if I were to accept you, is this how it will always be? Where we have to be on the brink of never seeing each other again for you to be open and honest with me?"

"No Hermione, I will work on being more open. I can't promise that it'll happen overnight, but for you I will make a strong effort.

She was silent a moment longer and then she shook her head. "I like it here Severus. I really like it here. It's so beautiful and peaceful, everyone is so friendly and obliging, the food is so fresh and delicious, and life here is simple in comparison to the hustle and bustle of the city." She looked straight into his eyes. "I don't want to go back to London."

At this his face hardened and his lips twitched to what she knew was the beginning of a sneer.

"It's that farmhand isn't it? You haven't been here a bloody week and already you've got your eyes set on someone else. That's it isn't it?"

"What?!"

"I'm no fool Hermione. I saw the two of you talking!"

She shook her head. "You're crazy."

"Yes!" He said as he grabbed her and held her against him; his onyx eyes boring deeply into hers. "You have made me this way! I don't know what's right or left, up or down, backwards or forwards anymore, and it's all because of you! Don't you see it Hermione? I… "

He closed his eyes and squeezed them, it almost seemed like he was in delirious pain. "I can't, won't let you go!"

"Then leave London, come and live here with me." She replied, but she already knew what he would say. His heart was tied to his material possessions, his grand company and his lucrative lifestyle in London. To confirm this, she saw how he lowered his head and mumbled: "I can't do that Hermione."

"Then I guess.. " She said as she removed his hands off her shoulders.  
"You will have to let me go." She said as she gave him a watery smile, she could feel the tears already slightly blurring her vision.  
"I really am sorry things came to this, but I honestly do wish you the best. I think I might have finally found happiness here and I'm not giving it up."

"Happiness.." He mumbled. "I know no such thing."

"You could, if only you would allow yourself to, but I understand why you feel you need to back."  
She leaned forward and gently brushed his lips with her own, she then looked into his eyes and tried with all her being to control herself from falling apart in front of him. "Good bye Severus."

**Don't worry, there is more to come!  
**


	12. Chapter 12

It had been two days since Severus got back from Forest Heath.

Currently he was in the middle of a meeting going over the actuals and forecast over his company's profits for the past three months. Normally he was always all ears for this sort of thing, and quick to make demands and call other's out for not having come through on what had been expected, but this time around; it was obvious that his mind was elsewhere.

With him there was the Vice President of Marketing, David Gourd. He kept looking over at Severus who was looking at the chart in a dreamlike state, it was obvious he was thinking of something else.  
"We failed to meet the forecast goal by 230,000 pounds Mr. Rickman."

They all looked at him but he still had his stare focused on the chart. David elbowed him, and he jerked up violently.  
"What is the matter with you David!" He growled with a sneer.

"Mr. Rickman; are you not listening? We failed to meet the forecast goal by 230,000 pounds" the presenter said in a trembling voice.

"So?!" He shot back. "What are you all going to bloody do about it? Am I the only one who knows how to make money around here?"

"Sir, are you alright?" David asked.

"Of course I'm not alright David; I'm down 230,000 pounds if you've been paying attention." He got up then, pushing the seat back in its place.

David saw he was making to leave and shot up from his seat. "Mr. Rickman, the meeting isn't over yet, we still have to figure out how we're going to recover from our losses."

"Oh.. I know what I need to do David, something I should've done a long time ago."  
He said in a deep and serious voice before he left the meeting.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Hermione was stocking the magazines and newspapers that day. It had been almost a week since she had had her run in with Severus and the truth was that she was having a really hard time forgetting the incident. She kept thinking about how good he had looked, the feel of his lips against hers and what it did to her body. He could be so charming and brilliant when he wanted to but he could also be such a complete and utter ass. It really was a shame that in the end, his desire for money and power won out over his having a chance at happiness.

She had just finished stocking all the magazines and was now working on the newspapers when something caught her eye. On the lower right hand corner was an article that read: **"Pharmaceutical giant now accepting bids for his company."~ full article on page 14. **

She blinked and mumbled: "No way…"  
She quickly opened the newspaper to page 14 where there was a very bad picture of Severus trying to hide his face from the camera's, the article below read:

"_Alan Rickman is locally known in London as the pharmaceutical giant.  
He has earned said reputation for having brought up an extremely  
successful company and took less than ten years to do it.  
His company is estimated to be worth some 85M (million)pounds, and  
while it has suffered some setback,  
it is still holding at a strong net worth which thousands of companies  
would kill for, so the question remains; why is Alan Rickman looking to  
sell his company when he's at the top of his game?_

_Many rumors are circulating with regards to this question_  
_in particular, several of them lead to a young woman_  
_who's name we cannot disclose at this time, but we have verified_  
_that she was Mr. Rickman's personal financial advisor. The two_  
_were recently spotted by the media together in Tuscany and shortly_  
_after pictures of them surfaced, his adviser was said to have_  
_given her resignation._

_Mr. Rickman has failed to comment on the specifics of why he_  
_is selling his company, the only thing he was quoted saying was:_  
_"I have been in this business for many years, but my circumstances_  
_have changed, my priorities have changed and therefore at this_  
_time I feel I need to tend to what is truly important to me."_

_For some, it is hard to believe that someone as ruthless_  
_as Mr. Rickman would give up his company for a mere woman,_  
_that is why it is also believed that she might've been a secret_  
_shareholder to his stocks and assets and her resignation left_  
_him with no other choice than to sell off his company._  
_Vice President David Gourd was contacted but declined to comment._

_For the time being, the only thing that is certain is that  
two major companies are said to already have placed a bid, and it's  
just a matter of time before we know who will take over  
as the next Pharmaceutical giant."_

Hermione hardly knew what to do with herself. What did this mean? Why was he selling his company and what was he going to do now?

Try as she might, she couldn't get the occurrence out of her mind. So much that that evening when she went to go meet Stephan and his brother Sam, the first thing he said to her was. "Geez Stacy, you look kinda pale; you sure you're up to going to the theatre? We can always cancel it for another time."

"Actually, I think going to the movies is just what I need to get my mind off of things."

His brother Sam was just as cute, but couldn't be older than twelve, he walked ahead of them which gave her and Stephan an opportunity to talk some.

"So, he must've been quite the fellow." Stephan commented.

Hermione blinked. "Hmmm? What are you talking about?"

Stephan smiled in turn. "Oh come now. I may just be a farm hand, but I know a broken heart when I see one. I'm sorry that it had to happen to someone as nice as you though, but it's a good thing you ended up in Forest Heath; I think you'll be able to start afresh from your painful memories."

Hermione kept her eye sight down as she replied: "Well Stephan, it might not be as simple as that. I'm afraid that things still aren't quite over between us, but then again I could be totally wrong and not knowing what is going to happen next is what's really got me like this."

"Well, I just recently come to know you Stacy, but I surely wouldn't want to see you hurting. Only you can decide what's right for you, but if there is a possibility that I can help." He said with a bright smile. "Just let me know."

She smiled up at him in turn. "That's very kind Stephan, thank you."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Every day after Hermione had seen the initial article, she always made it a point to check the newspapers for any news, but all that she'd happen upon was news of a recent bidder, and only recently was the news that Sheila Abbott and David Gourd had been fired for conspiring against Alan Rickman.  
She remembered Sheila; she had been that voluptuous woman that had been staring daggers at her during the meeting in Bari, and David had been the weasel who flirted with her. The truth was that news of their corrupted activities did not surprise her and it only solidified her decision to having moved away from that mess. The only troubles she faced now were the noon rush, and convincing Elizabeth to upgrade to a more advanced accounting software, but then of course there were thoughts of Severus and the pain that always accompanied those thoughts.

Approximate two weeks had passed when she finally saw the article she was waiting for. Apparently the company Howard Co. had won the bid at 80M pounds. The buyout took place immediately, and the article continued to mention that Mr. Rickman could not be found for questioning followed by rumors that he was no longer residing in London.  
Hermione frowned at that, if he wasn't living in London, then where had he gone? She was about to read more of what the article said but Elizabeth came over then.

"Stacy, could you finish stocking the fiction section? I've got a couple of customers waiting on me."

She had reluctantly left her article to help Elizabeth. Thankfully she was busy the rest of the afternoon and before she knew it, it was time for her to head back home.

Since the days had been getting cooler, Hermione would sometimes choose to walk to and from work. She was just turning into the street where her house was when she realized that there was another car parked right next to hers.

Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest as she practically ran towards it. She turned the corner and up her house when she saw Severus sitting outside, his feet propped up on the rail. Her eyes were wide as she approached him slowly now. What would he say to her? What would she say to him?

"It's about time you arrived." He said in a snarky manner as he got up from the chair. She lifted a brow in turn and folded her arms in front of her, not at all surprised at his comment.

"What are you doing here Severus?"

"Yes, I'm doing fine thank you. Would it kill you to show me some courtesy Granger? And where is the bloody bicycle I got for you? Why are you not making use of it? Is this how it's going to be when we live together? Where you'll have me buy things that you don't end up using? And what about.."

But he never finished his sentence since in that moment Hermione threw her arms around him and pushed him down so that her lips captured his in a searing kiss. Their kisses became heated quickly and it was a good thing that her cottage was in the middle of nowhere for had she had neighbors, they would've been giving them quite the show.  
She had wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her against the front door; he was kissing and nipping her neck ardently as she held on to him.

"I think we should go inside." She whispered.  
He chuckled darkly in turn. "Weren't you the one who said that your ideal date was to make love out in the wilderness or some nonsense like that?"

"We're currently not in the wilderness Severus, we're on the front porch. If we walk out back however, did you just say make love? Mmm…." He had bit an area of her neck just then.

"I believe I did." He said as he looked deep into her eyes, and in his voice that was like silk, he said: "I want to make love to you Hermione Granger."

They never made it to the back, or the inside of the house for that matter. He took her there on the front porch and only after their initial bonding was sated, did they go inside of her cottage to resume their activities.

Her fingers trailed his face as he lay on her small bed, they'd have to buy a new one now given that if he even moved an inch to the left, he would probably fall flat on his behind.

"So you sold your company?" She whispered.

He turned his head to look at her.

"I did."

"What about your house?"

He sighed. "It's still there; I've been working with a realtor to have it sold." He sighed again and stayed looking at her for several moments before saying: "There is no point in my staying in London anymore if you're not there Hermione. after I went back the last time we saw each other, nothing really mattered to me anymore. Not work, my car or my house, none of those things could fill my void; only you."

She leaned forward and kissed him, her face filled with contentment. "I can't believe you're here."

"Well believe it; I am here to stay." He said huskily as he climbed over her, readying himself for another round of love making.

Luckily Hermione didn't work that weekend so she dedicated the time to showing him the small town and cooking him food with the local meat and produce which she knew would impress him. One evening they made their way down the trail and over to the farm where Stephan stood and stared with a look of confusion on his face as he saw them both approaching.  
Severus possessively intertwined his fingers with hers as the approached, letting the young slip of a boy know that she belonged to him.

"So.." Stephan said with a smile on his face. "It seems that things worked out for you after all."

Hermione blushed in turn. "They did. Stephan I'd like for you to meet Alan." Severus greeted the boy even though Stephan seemed reluctant to. "Nice to meet you Stephan; I'm sure you'll see Stacy and I _togethe_r more in the future no doubt." He said giving emphasis to the word together.

Stephan blinked and stuttered a bit. "uhh.. sure.. anytime!"  
They ended up buying a bit of everything. Butter, cheese, milk, eggs, and went back to the cottage where Hermione made a honey and cheese tartlet.

She was currently sitting on his lap while feeding him the dessert. He closed his eyes as he savored it. "You know…" He said after swallowing. "I think I might just get accustomed to living in the country."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_**3 months later**_

"Wow, you're back from London sooner than I expected." Hermione said as Severus walked in. He placed his keys on the coffee table and sighed loudly. "Yes, it's a done a deal. The house has been officially sold. You know, it's odd Hermione."

"What is?" She asked.

"While I was there, all I kept thinking about was returning here to Forest Heath."

She smirked as she walked over to him and kissed him soundly on the lips.  
"I have something to tell you." She whispered.

"No, I have something to tell you. I picked up a trifle of sorts while I was there."  
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. Hermione's eyes went wide as he opened the box and before her was a 6 CT asscher diamond engagement ring.

"Hermione, for a long time I had made myself believe that I was incapable of being happy, even after my life began anew as a muggle; I had everything except for happiness and then I found you, trying so ardently to spy on me. I still to this day don't fully understand what awoke in me that day when I discovered you had found me, but all I know is that I don't ever want to be separated from you and even though I can be difficult; I hope that you'll be able to see past it and accept my proposal."

Hermione couldn't even speak she was so overcome with emotion; all she could do was cry and nod yes. He then took the ring out of the box and placed it on her trembling finger where afterwards he led her to their small sofa where they kissed and held each other for several long minutes. She loved kissing him, he was so passionate and skilled at it, and you'd never think it from simply looking at him.

After a while Severus whispered. "So what was it that you were going to tell me?" He was now gently nipping her neck, her desire for more escalating.

"I….I was going to say that I think we're going to have to move from the cottage."

He blinked and his face hardened slightly. "Why? I particularly have taken a liking to this cottage. There is nobody around to bother us, it's close to where you work, and is not too far from Greenfield. Is it the land lord? Should I make arrangements to see if he'll sell it to us?"

"Severus, there's nothing wrong with the actual cottage in itself. I simply think that in the not so distant future it will be too small for our needs."

His face hardened yet again. "I don't understand Hermione, what are you saying?"

"Severus…" She smiled. "I'm pregnant."

She heard as he loudly sucked the air through his teeth and suddenly lifted her up off the couch and spun her around.  
"You're saying.." He said, unable to suddenly speak as he held her against him. She nodded in turn. "I found out Yesterday when I went for a checkup."

"Hermione.." He whispered as he looked deep into her eyes and then gently traced his fingers around her tummy. "This changes everything Hermione. I have an idea! I will make arrangements with the landlord. I will make him an offer on the house, and then we will build an addition to it. We will make the kitchen larger, build a nursery, and we can also make plans to fix the back yard and.. you will definitely have to stop working."

"What? Severus I like my job. I shouldn't have to stop working just because I'm pregnant."

"Hermione. I have more than enough money to take care of us and our future children for many years to come. What if something were to happen to you while at work? I would never forgive myself Hermione."

She sighed, they were definitely going to have to talk about this, but in the meantime, she couldn't get over at how he was reacting to the news. She watched as he walked over to the kitchen and brought out the ruler to make measurements on how long the extension should be. She realized then that he would make an excellent and attentive father.

_**A Year Later….**_

Severus was bundling his son, Quentin in the stroller. The afternoons were always so gorgeous and He and Hermione had gotten into the habit of taking their son out for walks on the stroller. Sometimes they'd head over to Stephan's farm either to buy milk or just to say hi. He was engaged to a young lady who had a couple of months ago moved to Forest Heath and she and Hermione had become immediate friends.

Severus and Hermione had made a compromise where she would still work but only four days a week in the mornings. At noon, usually Severus would be waiting for her with their baby in his arms; it always brought a bright smile on her face.

Hermione had at one point worried that such a drastic change in his life particularly would eventually get to him. He had been use to power and dealing with money and the corporate world in general. She had asked him this once and all he said to her in response was: "You and my son are worth a million times more than what I have left behind." And even though he didn't voice it aloud, she could tell just from seeing the peaceful semblance on his face, that he had finally found happiness.  
Both of them had finally found happiness.

**The End**


End file.
